The Grass is Always Greener
by theatrelove123
Summary: When she was little, Clarissa was always told that "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". But now that she's switched bodies and lives with Luke, she's not so sure! Will they be able to work together and get back to normal?
1. It All Started With Some Orange Cake

**Hey everyone! I know, I haven't completed either of my first two stories yet. But I couldn't wait to get started on this: my first harvest moon story! One day, when I was playing Harvest Moon and using Molly (known as Clarissa in this story) to court Luke, I thought "Hey, I wonder what would happen if they switched bodies?" And there it began. I'm not sure if I'll finish this one. Chapters may vary greatly in length, I already know that the next one will be very short compared to others. Still, I hope that you enjoy reading it, as it's set to be my longest fic once I get it started!**

**Please, if you do like it or have questions or want to give any sort of feedback, review! You can only imagine how much it means for me to see your reviews on here, they absolutely make my day. They also motivate me to write more, which isn't a bad thing :). So please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, or any aspect of it. They all belong (in North America, anyway) to Natsume Inc.**

Chapter 1: It All Started With Some Orange Cake…

I paced back and forth nervously outside of the Brass Bar. _This might be my chance. When he sees how good it is, he might notice me. I hope he likes it…_

Thousands of half-finished thoughts raced through my head. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I walked up to the door, then quickly turned around and continued pacing. It was like each time I walked up to the door, some invisible force would make me turn around again.

_Oh, who am I kidding? It's terrible! There's no way he'll like it! But then again—_I looked down at my creation; some slightly lopsided orange cake. I'd never been much of a cook, but I was actually pretty proud of this cake. It took me many attempts to make it; my cows (who, luckily, enjoyed my failed dishes) were set to eat for about a week.

_Okay, here it goes, I can do this, I can do this…_ I charged through the door of the Brass Bar. Everyone looked towards me as I walked in; Hamilton, Hayden, Kathy, and Chase_._ My stomach immediately started doing flip flops at the sight of him.

_He's walking over to me…_

"Clarissa?"

_His eyes are so beautiful…_

"Clarissa?"

_I could stare at him all day long..._

"Clarissa!"

"Huhwhatsa?" I snapped out of my daze, face to face with the boy I'd been crushing on for the past year. _Oh Harvest Goddess._

"You wanted something?" He asked impatiently. _He looks so cute when he's frustrated with me…_

"Oh! I um, wanted you to taste something for me…" I mumbled and handed him the orange cake. _Stop spacing, Clarissa! You don't want to give the wrong impression._

"Thanks, I like orange cake." He said with no emotion.

"Oh, I'm so glad! I never would've guessed that it was something you liked!" I said excitedly. It was a total lie though. I'd known he liked orange cake for a long time. But it wasn't like I _stalked_ him or anything; I just enjoyed learning more about him. _Yes, that's it!_

Chase took the cake away from me. He sniffed it cautiously.

"You sure this thing isn't toxic?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Nope! It's most certainly not toxic!" I said gleefully. _I sound so stupid…_ "I-I mean, I think it's okay."

"If you say so..." he said almost doubtfully. I felt sort of insulted; he knew that I wasn't that bad of a cook!

He cut a piece off of the cake and put it on a separate plate while I watched, hopefully. _He's going to try it…_

Suddenly the doors of the bar were thrust open. I didn't need to look to know who had just come in.

"Hey! Chase! Clarissa!" Luke shouted and waved to us. Chase put down the plate. My heart sank. _Why him? Why now?_ Chase didn't seem too pleased either.

"What do you want Luke?" He asked, sounding disgusted.

"I just came to say hi to my buddy!" Luke said and patted Chase on the back.

"How in the world did you get it into your dense little head that we're '_buddies_'?" Chase asked, his words practically dripping venom. "What could I have possibly done to make you think that I wanted to be your '_buddy'_?"

"Hey Clarissa, you smell nice today, like fresh strawberries!" Luke said, taking no notice of Chase's words.

"Always the charmer, Luke." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Ooh, orange cake! Did you make this, Clarissa?" Luke asked. He picked up the plate that had been meant for Chase, grabbed the fork, took a big chunk out of the cake, and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Wowza, this isn't half bad!" He exclaimed with his mouth full. "You're a great cook!" He continued to eat.

"No! Luke, that was for Chase, not you!" I cried helplessly. He continued to fork in chunks of what had taken me days to perfect in a matter of seconds.

"Oh. Well, Chase can still have some if he wants. You want some, buddy?" He smiled a cakey smile at Chase as he shoved the half eaten cake up in his face.

"I'm not hungry anymore, thanks." Chase said and pushed the cake away. Luke shrugged.

"Okay, suit yourself!" He quickly devoured the rest of my cake.

"Nooo!" I wailed helplessly.

"Hmm, the frosting was a nice touch." Luke commented, licking the cake's remains off of his fingers. "So what do you wanna do tonight buddy? We could have a dudes night out! I made this whole list, and I was thinking-"

"Luke. Get. Out. Of. My. Bar." Chase said through clenched teeth.

"But buddy—"

"OUT!" Chase roared. He shooed both Luke and I out the door.

"Sorry, Clarissa, maybe another time." He said coldly. Then he slammed the door in my face.

"Wow, Chase sure does get irritated, but I know that he's always happy to see me." Luke said with a grin while adjusting his favorite flaming bandana.

"That wasn't even your cake!" I shouted at him. "Who do you think you are, eating food meant for someone else?" _He ruined my chance to get Chase's attention!_

He seemed to ponder my question for a second. "I think I'm Luke. Who do you think _you_ are?" He asked. Was he _serious?_

"ARGH! I can't believe you!" I shouted.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, the cake was really good." He said earnestly. He was like a puppy; he had boundless energy, but when it came to being yelled at, he would put on those puppy dog eyes and get all sorry and sad.

"No, Luke, it does NOT make me feel better." I told him. He looked bewildered and upset, like someone had all of a sudden killed his kitten. "Just leave me alone!" I shouted and stomped off, seething with rage. _Chase was about to eat my cake! I finally got his attention, and Luke just had to go and ruin it all._

I ran all the way back to my house on Honeydew farm and crawled under my covers.

"Hey, Clarissa, it's not the end of the world." said the small, squeaky voice that belonged to Finn. Finn was a fun-sized harvest sprite who followed me around everywhere, and only I could see and hear him. He was like a conscience, almost. When he first began tagging along with me, we resolved that we'd only talk to each other in private. 'Cause if people thought that I was talking to myself constantly, then I would have no easy time making friends. He hadn't uttered a sound during the whole cake ordeal, but now he was trying to comfort me.

"I know, it's just, I wanted to get his attention tonight. But because Luke came into the picture everything was ruined."

"You'll have other chances."

"Yes, but who's to say that Luke won't interrupt again?"

Finn sighed wearily. "Just go to bed, things will be better in the morning." He promised me.

"I hope so…" I said. Then I closed my eyes, and drifted into a deep sleep.

**So how was it? Good? Bad? Too soon to tell? Review please :D! The next chapter will be up soon if I find that people are interested in me pursuing the idea. Thank you for your time!**


	2. A Trip to the Goddess Pond

**Hi everyone! I'm back again with chapter two :). In this chapter, Finn visits the Goddess to talk to her about Clarissa and Luke. It's a really short chapter, but it had to be done. Don't worry, the next one will be longer! I'll try to get most of the chapters to at least a thousand words. To all first reviewers, thank you! You are the motivation for my writing, and you are fantastic. If any of YOU out there are reading this and you have any feedback to give, please review. If you don't take a couple of seconds to type it, then I won't know it. Alright? Alrighty then :). Anyway, here's the super short (big awesomeness comes in small packages) chapter two of "The Grass is Always Greener"!**

**Yours,**

**Theatrelove**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any aspect of it. It all belongs to Natsume.**

Chapter 2: A Trip to the Goddess Pond

I peered through the leaves at the shimmering goddess pond, my home. Or at least it was my home until I got assigned to work with Clarissa. Alan, Ben, Daren, and Calvin, my brothers, were all sleeping soundly. My other brother, Edge, wasn't among them though. He had taken up residence at the Celesta Church's wishing shrine. Clarissa and I were in the process of gathering people's wishes in order to ring his bell.

_This place is always so peaceful at night_ I thought, as I breathed in the cold, crisp air.

Walking in further, I could to hear the Harvest God and Goddess talking.

"Ooooh, Ignis, you bad boy you." The Harvest Goddess cooed.

"Well you know me, baaaaaad to the bone!" Ignis said, laughing heartily. I didn't know what was going on there, and I had a feeling that I didn't want to.

_Maybe I should come back another time…_ I began to tip toe away from the pond.

"Oh, is someone there?" The Harvest Goddess asked, her head poking out from behind one of the rocks.

"Pookie, if there's someone you need to talk to, it's alright by me." The Harvest God said. _Ugh, Pookie? What's up with that?_

_"_Oh Finn! Come in come in!" She welcomed me and gestured for me to come closer.

"No, it's okay, really, I'll come back another time…I mean…I don't want to intervene…" I started.

"Nonsense! You just wait there for a moment; I'll be right with you."

A few seconds later, the Harvest Goddess and Harvest God came walked out from behind the rocks (fully clothed, thank _Goddess_).

"Now what's the problem, Finn? Is Clarissa doing alright?" She asked. She bent down to look at me, which I didn't like. I mean, I knew I was _short_, but there was no need to rub it in.

"Well, no, you see, she's been having problems with that boy, Luke."

"Love troubles?" She asked. She winked at the Harvest God when I hesitated. _Ew_.

"No, just the opposite." I hurriedly explained. "She got really mad at him today and stormed off. They just don't get along! I think they have a lot more in common than they realize, and that they could get along if they wanted to, but it isn't my place to tell that to Clarissa. Is there any way that you can make them understand each other a little bit more?" I pleaded. Clarissa talked about how annoying Luke was all the time, almost as much as she talked about Chase. If only they could get along, things would be a lot better.

The Harvest Goddess seemed to contemplate this situation a bit. She whispered to the Harvest God, who then whispered back. As he whispered, her eyes lit up with a mischievous glow. She laughed happily.

"Don't you worry Finn. Ignis and I have come up with a brilliant way to help the two get along. Things should be put into effect by the day after tomorrow at the latest. I'm sure it will all work out." She said with a smile. Or was that a smirk? I couldn't really tell.

"Okay, thank you!" I said quickly, and ran out of there as fast as my stubby legs could carry me.

"No problem Finn, sweetie!" She called to me as I dashed away from the pond.

I smiled. _I helped Clarissa! Her and Luke will surely get along better from now on. She'll be so happy with me!_

**Bam! And that's chapter two. Chapter three will be up soon. Thank you :D!**

**Oh yeah, and review please :).**


	3. The Axe Man Rises

**Hey readers! Here's chapter three of "The Grass is Always Greener". Here we get an inside look at Luke's Saturday morning, a bit of a Luke introduction if you will. Thanks to all reviewers for, well, reviewing! I've said it a bajillion times, but I really do appreciate it :). Any new readers, please feel free to reivew! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Yours,**

_**Theatrelove**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. It all belongs to Natsume in NA.**

Chapter 3: The Axe Man Awakens

"Goooood morning! Come on now, get up! Rise and shine!" I shouted as I jumped up and down on Bo's bed.

"Ugh, Luke, it's 6:03 in the morning." Bo mumbled as he looked up at me. "Five more minutes…"

"Oh come on now! The early bird catches the worm!" I shouted.

"Who wants a worm?" Bo replied, covering his ears and rolling on his side.

"You do! And you need to get up now, because today's gonna be EXTREME!" I jumped even harder, as close as I could jump to his head without stepping on him.

"Stop it! Okay, _okay!"_ Bo yelled, pushing me off of his bed.

"Aw, come on, Bo! You're no fun." I pouted. Sometimes, I wished that Owen was my roommate instead of Bo;_he _wouldn't mind being woken up early. Still, Bo was like a brother to me. We had been apprentices together for almost five years, and, even though we didn't have that much in common, he was one of my closest friends.

"Luke! Bo! Breakfast!" Pops shouted. I grabbed my axe, my best friend, and dashed out of the bedroom, followed by a groggy Bo.

"Mornin' Pops! What's for breakfast?" I asked as I pulled out a seat at the table.

"Pancakes!" He said, setting down two heaping plates. "A carpenter's got to be fit. Eat up boys!"

I dug into my pancakes. _Mmmmm!_The Saturday morning ritual was going as it usually did. _Wake up, check. Wake up Bo, check. Grab axe, check. Run downstairs, check. Pancakes for breakfast, check. The only thing that's missing is…_

"Who wants maple syrup?" Pops asked. _Maple syrup, check._ Yes, Saturday morning was going exactly as it always had. But there was still something gnawing on my brain, something I couldn't pinpoint. I looked across the table. Bo was eating his pancakes slower than I was, he preferred to take his time. I couldn't understand why anyone would ever want to take time with anything; taking time is wasting time that you could use doing other things! But Bo is Bo, and he can do things however he wants to. It's his time, not mine. Next to his pancakes sat a few juicy strawberries.

_Clarissa_, I thought immediately. While Pops smelled like pine trees, and Bo often smelled of ham and cheese sandwiches, Clarissa always seemed to carry the scent of freshly picked strawberries. _That's what's bothering me._ I was brought back to the night before, when I ate that orange cake that Clarissa had made for Chase. Chase kicking me out didn't bother me at all, that's how it usually goes anyway, but Clarissa's reaction hit me hard. _Why was she so mad at me? Why did that cake have to be given to Chase in the first place? Why do I care so much?_ I attempted to shrug the whole thing off and keep eating. But I couldn't bring myself to eat as heartily as I had been. Still, I did manage to devour every last pancake.

"You done, Luke?" Pops asked.

"Yeah Pops, I think I'm gonna go out for some quality time with the good ol' axe." I said, picking up my axe and grasping it firmly.

"Sounds good. Do good work out there, boy. Profits have been down lately…" Pops began mumbling to himself about how the islanders didn't seem to have use for good quality wood anymore. I sighed; he would just never be satisfied, would he? My one goal in life has always been to make Pops proud; that's why I practice with my axe every day. But no matter how hard I've tried, he only focuses on the business; he never really noticed my accomplishments. Sure, I'd always get a 'nice load son' or a 'it's been a good day, Luke my boy', but it wasn't really the praise that I was trying to earn.

I ran outside, swinging my axe gleefully. Normally, when people see a guy smiling and swinging an axe, they get really scared, like 'oh goddess, did he just murder someone?' or 'oh goddess, he's gonna whack someone in the head!' But not with the Castanetians; they know that I know what I'm doing, and if I _was_ actually going to hurt someone, then it wouldn't be with my precious axe.

I skipped past Barbara's store.

"Hey Luke!" She waved to me. "Care for some banana pudding; just got some in stock!"

"Not now Barbs, but thanks!" I shouted, and then continued on my merry way. It was hard to believe that I had been worried and confused about Clarissa and Chase only a good ten minutes earlier. When I had my axe in hand, everything else seemed so small and silly.

I eventually came to Harmonica town. As I ran through there, swinging my axe about, I met many faces. Some of them were not overly pleasant.

"Hey, get out of the way, you lunatic!" Yolanda shouted at me as I pushed past her. I wasn't really listening though; I've never been too good at that.

"Hey bud!" I yelled as I passed Chase on his way to the Brass Bar. He barely even glanced at me, and his eyes held a look of malice. I didn't really care though; even the best of buddies have bad days.

Finally I was out of Harmonica town and in Fugue forest. I had to cease my running when I came to the door that led out of the clearing and into the forest itself. Panting, I took out an old key and pushed it into the lock. The gate door creaked open, and I dashed inside. I was in a forest, surrounded by trees, with an axe in hand. I ran up to the nearest one and started hacking away at it with my trusty tool.

"TIMBER!" I called as the tree hit the forest floor. I chopped up the large log into smaller pieces of lumber, then stowed those away in my backpack.

"Woohoo!" I yelled as I continued to run through the forest without stopping. I felt as if I were on top of the world, like I could do anything I set my mind to.

I had a feeling that today was going to be a great day!


	4. A Walk in the Woods

**Hey everyone! Here's chapter four of The Grass is Always Greener. In this chapter, the characters participate in a festival known as 'A walk in the Woods'. I hope that you enjoy it, and I also hope that if you enjoy it, you'll review :). Thank you!**

**Yours,**

**_Theatrelove_**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any aspect of it. But boy, do I wish I did...**

Chapter 4: A Walk in the Woods

It was a warm summer night in Castanet, and everyone was gathered outside of the entrance to Fugue Forest. Apparently, Hamilton told everyone about this new festival; something to do with 'villager bonding' and 'appreciation of nature' and stuff like that. I'll admit, I was a little nervous about coming tonight; I didn't really want to confront Chase again after what had happened the night previous, and I certainly didn't want to be anywhere near Luke.

"It's okay," Finn assured me. "You'll be talking to Chase again in no time. And I talked to the Goddess about Luke."

I nodded in appreciation, and then scanned the area. Sure enough, Luke was there. He was standing with Selena, the dancer for the Ocarina Inn. He seemed to be showing her some tricks with his axe. My fists clenched as I was filled with the sudden desire to slap Selena upside the head. But why? _Shouldn't I want to slap Luke? After all, he is an arrogant, immature, ignorant, conceited…_

I noticed his powerful arm muscles flexing as he swung the axe around. I noticed the charming smile he gave Selena, and the adventurous sparkle in his purely golden eyes…

I decided not to notice anything else, since I was beginning to scare myself a bit. Luckily, just as I was really starting to get freaked out over the things I was trying not to think about, Mayor Hamilton stepped up to the front of the crowd.

"Ehem." He cleared his throat. The whole jumble of people immediately fell silent. Whoa.

"Hello everyone!" He shouted jubilantly. "I would like to welcome you all to the first annual 'Walk in the Woods Night'! This festival is going to be somewhat of a game. It will give us all a chance to bond with nature and to get to know the other villagers a little bit better. You will each be split up into boy girl pairs—"

At this, all of the girls started to blush, giggle, and whisper to each other. Renee was looking at Toby out of the corner of her eye as he talked with some of his guy friends. Candace and Luna were giggling. They were looking at an oblivious Julius, who, inevitably, was admiring himself in the mirror. My hopes rose; _maybe I'll get paired with Chase!_ I looked over at him. He seemed to be bored with the whole thing, like he would be much happier doing something else.

"As I was saying…" The mayor started, and the chattering died down immediately. "You will each be split up into boy girl pairs that will be _randomly selected._"

A groan sounded throughout the area. Hamilton glared and the groaning ceased. He gestured to two wooden boxes.

"In this box is the name of every girl villager and in this one is every boy villager. Shelly will pick out a name from each box, and those two will be a pair. There will be _no _trading partners. Each pair will take a walk through the dark Fugue Forest and try to be the first one to make it out at the other side. The forest is like a maze, so be careful! Now, on with the pairs!" Shelly reached into each box and pulled out two pieces of paper.

"Simon and Barbara!" She shouted. _Oh, they're married! So maybe it isn't entirely random!_

"Hanna and Dale!" She shouted the second time. _Well there goes that theory…_

"Candace and Toby!"

"Selena and Julius!"

"Yolanda and Jake!"

"Irene and Hayden!"

"Owen and Renee!"

Things continued on like this for awhile. With each passing pair announcement, I got more excited and more anxious. _Chase hasn't been picked yet…neither have I…we're some of the only people left!_

"Chase—" Shelly began. I crossed my fingers tightly. _Please, please, please…_

"and Luna!"

Boom. Shock in my head. _WHAT? Did she really just say that? So if I'm not with Chase, then that means…_

"And that leaves Clarissa and Luke!" Shelly announced. _NO! Not Luke! Why, why him?_ I turned to look at Luke, who turned to look at me at the same time. He smiled and winked, I glowered at him._ This can't be happening…_

"Wonderful, the pairs are in place!" Hamilton said. "Now, in a few moments you will get with your partner and start your walk through the forest. There isn't anything dangerous, but safety precautions should still be used, as it's hard to find your way out. Everyone will be given a bag of breadcrumbs to track where they've been." He passed out a bag to one part of each pair. He gave ours to Luke.

"And, let the festival begin!"

Luke walked, no, _strutted _up to me.

"Okay Clarissa! Looks like you and I will be together for the night!" He said happily.

"Ugh, don't put it that way, Luke. You make it sound wrong." I told him with a hint of disgust in my tone. He looked hurt, but only briefly. He was back to grinning again in a flash.

"Well, let's be off then. Onward!" And he started marching ahead. _He's so immature…_

We walked for what seemed like a long time. Luke went on gaily about axes and carpentry. I nodded and pretended to look remotely interested.

"And then I cut down this HUUUUUGE tree! And it fell down with a BOOM! And, and—" Luke stopped. We had reached a dead end.

"It's no big deal," I told him. "We can just follow the—" I looked behind me to see an empty pathway. "…breadcrumbs." I began to get a bit worried. I turned to see that Luke, rather than freaking out, was looking down at his toes, embarrassed, just like a little kid.

"Luke, where are the breadcrumbs?" I asked slowly.

"Oh, those? I thought those were a pre-festival snack, so I…"

"You, what?" I prodded.

"I ate them! And they were really good too!"

"Seriously? You _ate_ our method of tracking? So we could be totally lost? Ugh, you doofus!" I yelled at him frustratedly.

"Now, now, don't get in a huff. I know this forest by heart!"He said confidently.

"I hope so…" I mumbled. I was mad at Luke, there was no doubt about that, but I was also beginning to get nervous. _What if we got lost?_ Apparently, he noticed my worry.

"Hey," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Don't sweat it. We'll be fine." My heart beat quickened. I moved out from under his comforting hand as quickly as possible. _What is the matter with me?_ At a loss for words, I nodded at him. We continued our walk, only this time in silence.

It was some time before that placid silence was broken. And it's not too hard to guess which one of us it was broken by.

"So, what's up with you and Chase?" Luke asked without looking at me, his eyes were fixed on the path ahead.

"Why?" I asked him, suspiciously. _What a random thing to bring up…_ He only shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess I was just kind of curious. You got so angry at me when I ate that orange cake last night…" His voice faltered. I decided to leave it alone. A few minutes later, Luke spoke again.

"Do you like him?" He asked.

"W-what do you mean?" I blushed nervously. I was thankful for the darkness, because Luke couldn't see my face.

"You know what I mean. Do you _like_ him? Have a crush on him? Have the hots for him? Wanna cook him a big heaping plate of—"

"It's none of your business!" I shouted. Even in the dark, I could tell that a mischievous glint had appeared in Luke's catlike eyes.

"So you _do _like him! That's why you gave him the orange cake, to get his attention!" Luke laughed.

"So what if I do? Why are you questioning me in the first place?" I asked, burning up.

"Clarissa and Chase are sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Luke sang.

"Stop it, you prat!" I yelled. I continued to walk, but didn't watch where I was heading.

"Priss!" He retorted.

"Moron!" I called him.

"Treehugger!" He yelled in response.

"Treehugger?" I asked, confused.

"_Treehugger_!" He assured me.

"Well you're just a moron in general!" I spat.

Luke stuck his tongue out at me, and I stuck mine out back at him. I continued walking backwards, looking at Luke in annoyance.

"Haha, you stuck your tongue out at me!" Luke laughed.

"I only did it because you—" I took one more step backward and slipped over the edge of a small cliff.

"AHHHHH!" I cried as I fell.

"Clarissa!" Luke yelled as he dove on after me.

I landed on the ground with a loud, painful thump. Luke landed beside me. I tried to get up, but I found that my legs wouldn't carry me off of the ground.

"Oh, my head…" I moaned.

"Clarissa, are you o—" Luke stopped. His eyes widened. "Whooooa…the world…spinning…" and he collapsed right then and there.

"Luke!" I shouted pitifully. Then the world began to spin around me as well. "Please…be…okay…"I mumbled before I collapsed right on top of him. For a moment, all of the sounds of the forest were eliminated. All I could hear was the steady rise and fall of Luke's breathing.

And then everything went black.

**Cliche ending right? I know I know, but all the same, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter five will be up soon. The 'big switch' (dun, dun, DUN!) will finally occur, so don't miss it!**


	5. Confusion and Terrifying Realization

**Hello fair readers! Welcome to *DRUMROLL*...Chapter five! The first chapter five I've ever written too! And yes, the switch does occur in this chapter. For future reference, Luke looks and sounds like Clarissa, but will still be referred to in the narration as Luke. Clarissa looks and sounds like Luke, but will still be referred to in the narration as Clarissa. Just making sure that nobody gets confused :).**

**A HUGE thank you to ninjalemondrop15, Blue-eyed-cow, The Silver Arrow, HarvestLoon, and Pikachufreak93 for their wonderful reviews! I love you guys, it makes me so happy to recieve your feedback :D. Quite a few people have put this story on alert or favorited it, but left no feedback. A favorite or an alert tells me very little. So, if you want to favorite it or alert it, I'd love it if you'd review as well! It only takes five extra seconds, and it makes me feel much more fufilled and happy. Anyway, ****I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**Yours,**

**_Theatrelove_**

Chapter 5: Confusion and terrifying realization

A dull ray of sun shone through a windowpane.

_How long was I out for? _I wondered. _Where am I? What happened? Is Luke okay? What's going on?_

Then I remembered. The falling. The spinning world. Luke's breathing.

My eyes slowly opened. I seemed to be in a bed in the Choral Clinic.

"Uhhhh…" I groaned as I sat up. I felt strange, as if I had been battered and bruised all over, which I supposed I had been after such a fall. But it wasn't only that, I felt strange in general. My movement as I went to sit up didn't seem quite the same, sort of off center. It was _weird_.

I went to itch my nose, but instead of my nose, I found that I was itching a band aid. _A band aid on my nose?_ I thought as I picked at it for a moment. My nose didn't hurt, so I couldn't see why I had a band aid on it.

And then I noticed my hands. They were tan and rough. My hands had never been soft, one of the cons of farming, but they were rougher than usual. My fingers were slightly pudgier, and the fingernails were stubbier, as if they were often chewed upon.

Acutely aware of the fact that something wasn't right, I jumped up off of the bed.

"Oof!" I grunted as I landed on the floor. I felt a bit woozy standing up, but it wasn't that that surprised me. What did surprise me was the sound of my voice when I grunted. It sounded lower, and more masculine. I could almost feel it rumbling lower in my throat.

I took a few steps. I felt much heavier and taller than I remembered, and it almost felt as if each part of my body was positioned slightly different. A shock of blue hair fell in front of my eyes. _Wait. _Blue _hair? I have brown hair! I must be going crazy…_

Suddenly, Irene walked in.

"Oh, Luke, thank goddess you're awake! We were worried that the injuries you suffered with miss Clarissa were much worse, but it seems that you've only sustained some minor bruises and bumps." She said. I looked around, but I didn't see Luke anywhere. _Who was she talking to?_

"Um, sorry to be rude, but who are you talking to?" I asked her, once again startled by the masculinity of my voice. Irene was startled too, but not at my voice. She seemed to be surprised at what I'd said, as well as my politeness.

"I'm talking to you dear! You're the only Luke in this room. Unless there's something I don't know about?" I stared at her blankly, and then laughed out loud.

"Ahaha! Good one Irene!" I assumed she was joking with me. She looked at me, concerned. "So, hypothetically, if _I'm _Luke, then where's Clarissa?" I asked her, still laughing.

"She's right over there, she hasn't woken up yet." Irene said slowly, pointing to a bed on the other side of the room. "Luke, are you sure that you're feeling okay?"

"I'm _not _Luke! Luke's over there, sleeping!" I told her, pointing to the other bed where 'Clarissa' supposedly was. _Why is Irene doing this?_

"Now, Luke, I suggest you lie down a bit longer; you don't seem to be back to your regular self yet. When you feel better, come into the lobby and I'll discharge you." She said. I saw her shake her head disapprovingly as she shut the door. _Holy chicken eggs, was that all about?_

I walked over towards the other bed nervously. It didn't make any sense. _Why am I even doing this? I shouldn't have to convince myself. _I approached the bed. The person sleeping in it was completely under the covers. _I know perfectly well that Luke is lying underneath those covers. _I pulled the covers off of the sleeping figure and came face to face with…

Myself.

_WHAT THE FARM?_ Sure enough, someone that looked exactly like me to the freckle was fast asleep in front of my very eyes. A small dribble of drool was hanging from her mouth. I began to hyperventilate. _This is impossible! _I picked up a mirror._ If that's me, then I must be… _I gasped. Blue hair. Catlike eyes. Flaming Bandana.

…_Luke._

And then I screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

* * *

My eyes opened suddenly_. I thought I heard someone scream…_ I scanned the room. It seemed that I was in the choral clinic. The last thing I could remember was diving over the cliff in Fugue Forest, in attempts to save Clarissa. _Clarissa, is she okay?_

I sat up fast, and was greeted with a throbbing pain in my head. _Ugh, I hate migraines…_ I rubbed my forehead in hopes to make it feel better, but instead of finding the spiky, blue bangs that I usually felt, my hand met something much softer and brown. _Brown? Did someone dye my hair in my sleep?_ I laughed at the thought, only to find that my laugh was higher pitched, and more like a giggle. _Guys aren't supposed to be able to giggle. _Something definitely wasn't right.

I stood up slowly. I felt a lot lighter than I did before, and my movements seemed the slightest bit different. _It's as though my whole body was rearranged__…_ I walked over to the other side of the room. There was a guy over there. He was looking at himself in the mirror in a panic, so I could only see the back of him. He was also wearing the same bandana as me.

"Hey, nice bandana! I have the same one!" I shouted to him even though he was right next to me. He turned and looked at me, and my heart stopped for a moment.

I was looking at myself. Not in a mirror, but for real.

"Whoa…" was all I managed to say. My clone looked, if possible, even more surprised than I did.

"Luke? Is that you?" The me-clone asked frantically in my old voice. I had never heard my voice sound so afraid.

"Yeah…" I said, still in shock. "Who are you?"

"Clarissa!" The me-clone hissed. "What are you doing with my body?"

"_Your _body?" I asked, confused. The person who claimed to be Clarissa (but still looked exactly like me) whirled me around to face a mirror.

_Brown hair. Yellow blouse. _I sniffed the air around me. _Strawberries…_

"Holy chicken eggs!" I shouted.

**Stay tuned for chapter six! And please, if you've read it and enjoyed it so far, do review :). Thank you!**


	6. What are we gonna do?

**Chapter six is up! This is the first chapter since the two find out they've been switched. There are guidelines to be set, harvest sprites to talk to, and awkward questions to be asked. So, what are you waiting for? Go!**

**Yours,**

_**Theatrelove**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own harvest moon. It is owned by natsume. How many times do I have to tell you?**

Chapter 6: What are we gonna do?

I watched as Luke processed what was going on. For the first time ever, he seemed to be speechless. All was silent for a moment.

"I need to sit down." Luke said softly. I helped me…her… uh, _him _over to one of the beds.

"You feel okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Besides the fact that I look like you and I feel like I'm about to barf? Then, yeah, I'm peachy." He said with a grin. _Same old Luke…_

"How'd this happen?" I asked as I absentmindedly twirled a piece of blue hair around my finger.

"No clue." he said. "But boy, however it happened, it's _weird…_" as he spoke Luke was examining his manicured fingernails. He then carefully patted the front of his skirt and audibly yelped at what was no longer present. His hands moved up to his chest to find two bumps that he was sure weren't there before. He promptly began bouncing them.

"Haha, it's like two bouncy balls!" He laughed, and then I realized what he was doing.

"Luke! Don't feel me up while you're in my body!" I yelled at him. His cheeks turned beet red.

"Oh, I'm s-sorry, I didn't realize…" he mumbled, putting his hands safely on the bedside. I sighed. We sat in silence for a few more awkward moments. I swear I had _never_ seen Luke this quiet.

"Wait!" He shouted out of the blue, startling me half to death. "I've got it! Maybe it's a _dream_!" I watched as my old chocolate brown eyes, now in Luke's posession, lit up.

"Come on, Luke. Get real. A dream? You think that we're both dreaming at the same time?" I asked skeptically.

"Well why not? Weirder things have happened." He said. And it was true, weirder things _had _happened. _Hmmm…_

"Okay, so suppose we are dreaming, what do you propose we do?" I asked.

"We wake up of course!" He said, obviously proud of himself.

"But it's not that simple, we can't just _decide_ to wake up. How're we going to make it happen?"

"Well, how about we close our eyes for a few seconds?"

"Okay…" I agreed reluctantly.

"On three then, 1…" Luke started.

"2…" I said.

"3!" We both shouted simultaneously. I shut my eyes tightly. _1 mississippi, 2 mississippi…_

After a few more seconds, I opened my eyes a crack. Nope. I was looking at a mirror image of myself. Luke still had his eyes closed and was smiling eagerly, probably waiting for some magical, out-of-body experience to take place.

"Luke, you can open your eyes, it didn't work." I said, still marveling at how strange it was that Luke's voice was coming out of my mouth.

Luke opened his eyes, and looked around, only to realize that I was right.

"So, we're not dreaming…" he said.

"And we're definitely not imagining things…" I added.

"Then this must be for real." He concluded. "Do you think it will fix itself?"

"There's no way to be sure, since we don't know how it happened." I told him.

"So what should we do in the mean time?" He asked me. I pondered it. We obviously couldn't tell people, they'd think we were insane. And we definitely couldn't go about our regular activities. So that left only one option…

"We'll have to pretend to be each other I guess…" I said.

"Me? Pretend to be _you_?" Luke asked, shocked.

"What else can we do? We've got to keep a low profile, go about the other's life as best we can, until we can figure a way out of this mess!"

"I suppose you're right. Who knows, it could even be fun!" Always the optimist.

"Well, we have to lay down some guidelines." I said. "Rule number 1: No touching. You're going to treat my body as if it were your own." He nodded, seeming to follow me so far.

"Rule 2: You've got to keep up with my farm work. I'll help you, but you'll have to work most of it on your own, and I don't want my farm to become non-productive because you're the one working on it. Got it?"

"Aye aye, sir!" Luke said, saluting to me. I groaned.

"And rule 3: _Please_, just try and act like me. I don't want people suspicious. Okay?"

Luke raised his hand high up.

"You have a question?"

"Which bathroom should I use?" he asked. _Oh goddess…_

"Ummm, the girl's one I guess." I told him. Truth is, I didn't want him going to the bathroom at all when he was in possession of my body. But he wouldn't be able to hold it forever, and I wouldn't want anyone seeing 'me' walking into the boy's room...

"And how do I…?"

"You just sit." I hurried, saving us from the awkwardness. It was a pretty awkward subject to begin with, but it had to be addressed.

"Okay, now it's my turn." Luke said, getting up. "One: act like me." I nodded, hoping that that part wouldn't be too difficult

"Two: make sure that after you shower, you brush my hair 100 times so that it stays shiny." Luke said in utter seriousness. _Come to think of it, Luke's always cared a lot about his hair, and it usually looks really nice…_then what he said really hit me. I'd have to _shower_! _Eww!_

"And rule three," Luke continued, completely unaware of my discomfort, "Keep up with my carpentry. I don't want to disappoint Dad."

"Sounds good." I nodded.

" Oh, and you just stand, aim, and go."

_Huh? What is he referring— _Oh. That.

"Thanks…" I muttered, looking down at the space between my legs woefully.

"Don't mention it!" He grinned as he plopped back down from the bed. Immediately, he jumped back up.

"Oh my goddess! H-holy chicken eggs! Great Ignis all-mighty!" he screamed, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"What?" I cried. "What's wrong?"

"I-I sat on something! _Someone! _And now he's flying next to me! And he can _talk! _Don't you see him?" I looked in the area around Luke, but saw nothing. _What could he be talking about? _

Then I realized, _Finn._ Of course! I wasn't able to see him now, as I had Luke's eyes. But he could appear to me if he knew who I was, _couldn't he_?

"Ask him his name." I said to Luke calmly.

"His _name?_" Luke stuttered. "Well, alright," he turned to what appeared to be an empty spot right beside his head. "Greeeeeeeeetiiiiings. Whaaaat yooooouuuur naaaaaaame?" he asked the air slowly. He paused.

"Alright, okay! Sorry!" he said, and then paused again. He turned to me.

"He says his name is Finn. And he _can_ speak English. And he's confused as to why 'Clarissa' doesn't remember his name. Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he was assigned to me by the Harvest Goddess when I first came to Castanet. He's sort of like a little guardian angel." I explained. _Wow, I've never told anyone about Finn before!_

Luke sighed with relief. "So I'm not hallucinating?"

"Nope." I assured him. He turned towards where I assumed Finn was floating, paused, whispered to him, and paused again.

"He's confused as to why you know so much about him. I tried to convince him of our, er, situation, but he won't buy it."

"Tell him that I'm Clarissa! Tell him to appear for me!" I said, longing to see my invisible best friend. Luke nodded and communicated the message to Finn.

"He says I must be crazy, and asks if I'm feeling okay." Luke told me, still seemingly bewildered by the fact that he was talking to a floating, orange, harvest sprite.

"Well, tell him to appear for Luke then." I said. I _really_ didn't like being seen as Luke, but I supposed I'd have to get used to it. Finn was a good place to start. But, of course, Finn was the only one who would learn what was really going on.

The air Luke had been talking to seemed to thicken for a moment, and Finn appeared. He looked both confused and irritated.

"Luke, why do you want to see me so badly? And how do you know about me? I thought Clarissa promised she'd never tell anyone! What's going on?"

"Finn, it's me. I'm Clarissa." I told him, smiling genuinely. He didn't falter.

"Alright, Luke, what sick joke are you trying to pull? And what's Clarissa doing in on it? I thought you two were arguing!" _He still doesn't believe me!_

"No, Finn, I really am Clarissa. Somehow, Luke and I have switched places." I tried desperately to explain.

"She's telling the truth, Finn. _I'm_ Luke." Luke said. Finn floated up to me, eyeing me skeptically.

"You don't _look_ like Clarissa…" he said. Then he sniffed my shirt.

"You don't smell like Clarissa either…"

"Come on Finn…please…" I said, my eyes pleading.

"But I've never heard Luke say please before." Finn said. "So that really is you, Clarissa?"

"Yes!" I shouted. I picked up Finn and twirled him around. "You know!" I gave him a big hug.

"Alright! You're strangling me!" Finn shouted. I released him.

"Sorry…" I panted. "I was just so relieved, you finally recognized me!"

"So how did you two end up like this?" Finn asked.

"We dunno." Luke said, shrugging. "We fell in Fugue forest, and we woke up like this."

Finn thought about it for a moment. Then his eyes widened.

"Uh oh…"

"What? What's wrong?" Luke asked him anxiously.

"Well, I went to the Harvest Goddess awhile ago, and I told her about how you two were fighting. And she said she'd take care of it..."

"Oh, Finn! So you think that she did this to us?" I asked him.

"Probably. I'm so sorry Clarissa!" He said. You couldn't help but notice how he didn't say sorry to Luke.

"Well? How do we get back to normal?" Luke pressed.

"She said you'll be fine once you learn to understand each other." Finn said quickly. Luke and I looked at each other for a moment.

"WE'LL BE STUCK LIKE THIS FOREVER!" I wailed.

"Hey! Maybe we can talk to the Harvest Goddess about it! Tell her that Finn had it all wrong!" Luke suggested.

"Maybe." I said unenthusiastically.

"I'm sorry…" Finn apologized again.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know what she would do." I said soothingly. _Whoa, I've never heard Luke's voice do _soothing_ before._

"So what are you going to do until then?" Finn asked, looking guilty and worried.

"We're going to try pretending to be each other until we can find a solution." I told him, still shuddering a bit at the thought.

"And you'd better keep our situation secret, Finn!" Luke said, pointing a finger at the harvest sprite.

"Who would I tell?" Finn asked.

"You know, he's got a point there…" Luke said.

"Well, now that we've got that settled…you think we should go see the harvest goddess?" I asked. The Harvest Goddess usually wasn't the most reasonable person, but there was always a chance.

"Why the heck not? We might as well try!" Luke grabbed his axe and I put Finn on my shoulder. All of a sudden, Luke turned to me. A realization reached us both at about the same time.

"You can't take that!" we shouted at each other simultaneously.

"Why can't I take Finn? He's my best friend!" I told him.

"Well my axe is my best friend!" He countered.

"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but Luke's right. I'm supposed to be looking after _Clarissa_, and you, well, you aren't Clarissa anymore." Finn said softly. I could feel some tears welling up in my eyes. I hadn't spent a day without Finn in what seemed like forever!

"Finn…"

"I'm sorry, but until we figure out how to fix this, I'm going to have to follow Luke." Finn said unhappily.

"And why exactly can't I have my axe with me?" Luke asked.

"Think about it Luke, have you ever seen me swinging an axe around?" I asked him.

"Noooo…" He mumbled.

"And have _you _ever been seen without your axe?" I continued.

"Noooo…" He mumbled again, softer this time.

"And don't you think people would find it weird if the roles were reversed?"

"Yeah…." Luke gave in. "But you've got to take good care of it. Treat it as if it were your own." He said very seriously. _He really cares about that old thing…_

"O-okay." I promised him as I took hold of the axe. It felt warm and slightly worn, as if it were constantly in use. Which, I supposed, it was. Luke was never seen without his axe, and, from now on, I couldn't be seen without it either. Luke looked at it longingly for a moment, and then turned his head up again to face me.

"So, shall we go?" He said, gesturing towards the door.

"Do we have a choice?" I asked him, even though I already knew the answer.

**The end! If you enjoyed it, please review!**


	7. A Mile In Someone Else's Shoes

**Hello fanfictioners! Once again, I guess I should apologize for not updating anything in so long. It has become even more apparent to me as time goes on that my writing is going to be pretty sporadic. Unfortunately, I'm a busy person, and I have to sit down for a good half an hour if I'm going to write, I mean _really write_. I hope this doesn't decrease your enjoyment of the stories I post; please keep checking for updates! Although I might leave some stories untouched for awhile, I'll try not to ever truly abandon them. Even if there isn't an update, that doesn't mean that there isn't writing going on behind the scenes ;). I hope that you enjoy chapter 7 of The Grass is Always Greener! Also, I want you all to know that your reviews are revitalizing; when I look at them, it always motivates me to write more. So, please, if you have anything to say, even if you just want to tell me that you like the story, keep those reviews coming!**

**I hope that you all have a wonderful day :).**

**~Theatrelove**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harvest Moon. Wish I did. I think you all know this by now.**

Chapter 7: A Mile In Someone Else's Shoes

We walked towards the door. Luke pulled it open for me.

"Ladies first." He said, and then he caught himself. "Uh, I mean, you can go first miss…ter." We then went up to the counter and discharged with Irene.

"You feeling better now, Luke?" She asked. This time, I knew that she was talking to me.

"Yeah, a lot better. Thanks." I said shyly before quickly looking away. She looked at me oddly, opened her mouth like she was about to say something, then decided against it. Instead, she turned to Luke.

"And you, Clarissa, are you doing alright?"

"I'm A-OK, Irene, thanks for askin'!" Luke said, smiling a melon shaped smile. Irene looked even more confused at what she thought was my answer. She seemed to have decided to blame our actions on our being hit on the head, and waved us on out the door.

As soon as we were outside and away from any Choral Clinic eavesdroppers, I began to scream at Luke. "_A-OK? A-OK? _Are you insane?" I glared at him angrily, straight in the eyes. "You can't be so peppy and giddy all the time!" It wasn't like I was the least peppy and giddy person on the planet, but I wasn't known for an overly cheerful disposition, and I certainly wasn't peppy or giddy to a Luke-extreme. And I _definitely_ didn't want people, especially Chase, thinking that I was.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked, taking one nervous step back. "People say A-OK all the time! Sheesh."

"No, Luke. _You_ say A-OK all the time." I told him. He seemed to contemplate what I'd said for a moment, and then turned on me.

"Well, if you expect me to be less 'peppy', or whatever, then you have to be more _extreme_! You were soooo blunt and quiet with your response, have you ever heard me be blunt? You can't blame me for acting like myself when you were being even quieter than you usually are!" He yelled. I tried to think of a worthy comeback, and couldn't think of anything. I wasn't a quiet person in general, but I supposed that maybe the strangeness of answering for Luke had made me come across as more shy than I usually was (which was a lot more shy than Luke ever was). He had me; I acted completely, totally un-Luke in there, and I only realized it now.

"Touché." I conceded grumpily. The other people on the street watching our whole exchange weren't surprised; it wasn't uncommon for Luke and me to argue loudly. If they were listening to what we said though, they may have realized that something was a wee bit different.

"Look, Clarissa." Luke said, "If we're going to make it to the Goddess without ripping each other apart, then we should probably stop fighting and start walking." I was astounded by Luke's using reason and keeping us going. It was usually me that did that.

I sighed. "You're right, let's go." And thus we began to walk. As we walked continually down the swerving and turning streets of Harmonica Town, there was an ever growing awareness of how surreal our situation was.

"Luke, hey!" Owen said as we passed him and Kathy walking hand in hand.

"Umm…hi." I said, startled by his saying hello to me. Luke nudged me in the rib cage.

"He's your _friend_." He whispered. _Oh yeah! Luke and Owen are friends! _Owen was looking at me, puzzled.

"I mean, 'sup Owen, buddy!" I quickly covered. The look of puzzlement on Owen's face disappeared and he nodded in acknowledgement and smiled. _That was a close call…_

"Clarissa, hi!" Maya called as she approached us on the path. I sighed. _As soon as one left, another arrived._

Maya must've caught me sighing, because she went on to look upon me with disdain. "No need to look so happy to see me, Luke."

She then turned to who she thought was Clarissa. "Are you going to Luna's slumber party tomorrow night? Everybody's been talking about it!" she giggled as she said this.

Luke looked taken aback at her words. "S-slumber party?" He blushed intensely. "No, no, no I don't think I'll be attending-"

"C'mon, Clarissa! It'll be so much fun. You just _have_ to go."

"But I, I mean, I'm not who you think I-" I knew that Luke was about to reveal our secret to Maya, so I immediately clapped a hand over his mouth to keep him from saying anything more.

"She'll be there!" I assured Maya loudly so that I could be heard above Luke's insistent muffled shouting.

Maya clapped her hands and jumped up and down joyfully. "Oh good! Thanks for your help Luke. I wouldn't want Clarissa to miss out on all the fun!" She waved goodbye and then skipped away. I waited until she was out of sight before uncovering Luke's mouth. He started talking rapidly.

"What was that for? I can't go to a s-s-slumber party!" He stumbled over the word as if it were a hot pit of coals he had to walk across.

"Well, you were about to blow our cover, and to Maya of all people! What was I supposed to do?"

"It was an honest mistake! And now she thinks I'm going. How could you do this to me?" He looked so distressed that I had to laugh.

"This isn't funny!" he cried out, the cheeks that used to be mine turning from pink to red. This only made me laugh more.

"What? What's so hilarious? Clarissa, look at me and tell me what's so funny about this." He said sternly, as if he were a father talking to his unruly son.

"It's your reaction!" I said, wiping the tears out of my eyes. "You seem so embarrassed! Honestly, I'd thought you'd be kind of happy about this. Isn't it every hormonal teenage guy's perverted fantasy to be invited to a slumber party with a bunch of girls?"

Luke's cheeks, if at all possible, turned an even darker shade of red, almost purple. "No! No way! Not me!" He said, closing his eyes tightly and shaking his head, as if to remove any existing naughty thoughts.

I put a rough hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much, Luke. From the way you've reacted, you'd think that girls spend their slumber party nights stripping for each other and having pillow fights in their underwear!"

"They don't?" Luke looked at me, less distressed now, and more puzzled.

"No, they don't." I said, still smiling.

"Phew, that makes it better then." I saw my old features relax considerably as we resumed walking. "But I still don't get why you're so adamant about me going. Aren't you worried about me around your friends?"

"I didn't think I had reason to be." I shrugged. "I mean, if you were someone who was going to try to pull something with one of my friends, would you really be asking me if I was worried about it?"

"Hmmmm...you know what? You may just be onto something." Luke said. Silence for a few more steps. "But just because I wouldn't pull anything with one of them doesn't mean I won't look at them." he said, turning to me with a devilish grin that look _so_ out of place on my face.

"LUKE!" I hoisted him up by his yellow blouse, so that his toes no longer touched the ground. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

"What the...put me down! Clarissa, people could mistake this for abuse." I looked around at the surrounding people, and realized that we were receiving more than a few funny looks.

"Clarissa? Luke? You two alright?" Mayor Hamilton looked at us oddly.

"Fine, Mr. Mayor. Just, uh, playing." I smiled at him sheepishly as I lowered a glowering Luke to the ground. Mayor Hamilton just shook his head and walked onward, mumbling to himself.

"Wow, Clarissa. You were all calm and then WHAM! Suddenly I was off the ground." Luke said.

"Sorry, Luke. I guess it's just been a weird day for me..."

"S'okay." he shrugged.

"But you won't look at any of my friends, right?" I looked at him pleadingly.

"I'm not making any promises." he smiled.

"Ugh, Luke. You're such a...a...boy!"

He grinned toothily. "Look who's talking!"

"Ha ha, very funny." I rolled my eyes at him.

" Well, seems like you're back to your normal self." He said.

"I don't think I'll be back to my normal self again 'til we fix this." I told him.

"Okay then...ONWARD TO HARVEST GODDESS!" Luke shouted to nobody in particular.

With our goal back in mind, we picked up the pace. But the farther we walked, the stranger things became. I noticed that the looks that people were giving me were different than the ones I was used to receiving. Chloe and Paolo waved to me friendlier than ever before, while when I passed Yolanda she flashed me a look of contempt. The scariest was when I passed Selena, she puckered her lips and batted her eyelashes. I turned away from her quickly; those meaningful looks were all too clear to me, and, to put it quite frankly, it was creeping me out.

Luke seemed to be noticing similar things. Candace was smiling at him (she was usually terrified of his boundless energy), and Yolanda gave him a pleasant look rather than a look that threatened death. Some of the boys were looking at him a bit differently too. When we passed Gill, Luke winked at him (which he does to many people. Luke's always liked winking, as it makes people think he knows something they don't). But instead of shaking his head and moving on like he usually did when Luke winked at him, Gill's pale cheeks turned a shade of bright pink and he turned away, flustered. Luke looked utterly confused.

"You imbecile!" I hissed in Luke's ear. _Hmmm, imbecile. I'll have to write that one down..._"What was that for?"

"What was what for?" he asked.

"You winked at Gill!"

"But I always wink at people!" Luke said.

"Yeah, but that was when you were a guy. When guys wink, it says 'I know something that you don't' or 'Hey friend!' or something like that. But when a girl winks at a guy, it can be seen as, well…seductive." I explained.

"Seductive?" Luke asked.

"Never mind," I dismissed it, not wanting to explain to Luke what it meant to seduce someone. He'd figure it out someday. "Just don't do it anymore, got it?"

"Who are you to say what I can and can't do?" Luke challenged me. _Honestly, he's like a little kid._

"I'm the rightful owner of the body you're currently residing in." I told him. Luke's eyebrows furrowed defiantly for a moment, but he didn't challenge me any farther.

"Fine." He pouted. "I promise I won't wink." I sighed, hoping that Luke would keep his promise. _Well, at least it was Gill he winked at and not Chase._

We finally arrived at the entrance to the Goddess pond. I checked Luke's watch, and was shocked. What seemed to be the longest walk I'd ever taken had only lasted about fifteen minutes.

"That was seriously only fifteen minutes? You're kidding!" Luke said when I told him.

"Nope. Dead serious." I said. It was kind of funny hearing that come out of what were supposed to be Luke's vocal chords, as Luke was _rarely _dead serious.

"That was the strangest walk I've ever taken." Luke said, bewildered.

"I agree, it was bizarre." I said.

"You really think that we'll be able to convince her to change us back?" he asked me.

"I hope so, I don't want to spend any longer in this body then I absolutely have to. Just follow my lead. And make sure that we act real buddy-buddy, so maybe she'll think that she made a mistake and that Finn was delusional."

"Which he was." Luke said pointedly.

"I heard that!" Finn squeaked from Luke's shoulder.

"Oh, hey there Finny! We forgot all about you!" Luke said, smiling at Finn. I groaned loudly at his being so oblivious.

"Okay, you ready Luke?" I asked.

"Dynamite." He said. And we walked into the tunnel that led to the renowned Goddess pond.


	8. Change Us Back!

**I became so excited about my last update that I had to write chapter eight, too :). Enjoy!**

**~Theatrelove**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon. I also don't own High School Musical.**

Chapter 8: Change us back!**  
**

Clarissa and I slowly made our way through the tunnel leading to the Goddess and her pond. Clarissa seemed to be silently planning how we were going to persuade the Goddess to change us back. The catlike eyes that she now possessed were narrowed in thought.

_Man, _I thought as I watched her walking down the dimly lit tunnel. _I will never get used to watching myself._

I looked down past Clarissa's breasts to my skirt. _I don't think I'll get used to that either._

Finally, we reached the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Woohoo! Woo—mph!" I shouted until Clarissa covered my mouth.

"We haven't won anything yet, so don't start celebrating." She hissed at me before continuing to walk forward. I wasn't too concerned with her threat, until I realized that she was now much stronger than I was. I remembered her hoisting me up into the air leaving me to dangle helplessly only a few minutes before. It was then that I resolved to keep my mouth shut.

When we emerged from the tunnel, my eyes met the most beautiful landscape I'd ever seen. We walked into a brightly lit wooded area, a large canopy of trees hanging above us. In front of us was a pond, clear as crystal, with a stone path leading through it. My first reaction was to jump in and start splashing around, but I stopped myself because 1.) I was in Clarissa's body, 2.) It was just too still and too peaceful for me to disturb, and 3.) I was in Clarissa's body. Did I mention that I was in Clarissa's body?

We slowly walked across the stone path, careful not to fall in. All around us, small animals were stirring, just waking up. And at the other end of the path stood the strangest and most beautiful thing in the area. A tall, thin, pale lady stood there. She had long blue hair that curled in wavy rivers down her front and calm, sea green eyes that looked as if they knew exactly what you were thinking. She was wearing an elegant, flowy gown. I stood there looking at her, my mouth agape. _Wowza…_

Clarissa noticed my being awestruck. "Luke, please tell me you're not having any perverted thoughts about the Harvest Goddess!"

"What? Of course not Clarissa! Gosh, sometimes you seriously underestimate my maturity…" She rolled her eyes.

"You don't need to worry about anything Clarissa. I think that the Goddess already has a thing with Ignis…" Finn muttered, talking somewhat to himself.

"What? What made you think that, Finn?" Clarissa asked.

"Oh! Nothing, nothing…" he quickly dismissed the subject. It was almost as if he were shooing away an unpleasant memory. Clarissa and I just shrugged and made our way up to the stone platform that the Goddess stood on. I had to be careful not to step on the little Finn lookalikes that were wandering around everywhere.

"Ah! Clarissa, Luke, what a pleasant surprise!" The Harvest Goddess said a little too happily. Even I could see behind that dazzling smile. She was up to something.

"All right, your goddessness, let's get down to business." I told her straight off.

"Why, whatever do you mean Clarissa? " She said to me, giggling.

"That's just it," Clarissa said. "_I'm _Clarissa, and over there is Luke. You've switched us around, and we think that you've made a terrible mistake."

"Oh Luke you are so silly!" The Goddess said, ruffling Clarissa's hair. _She definitely knows what's going on..._

"Finn was delusional!" Clarissa pressed on, determined. She really wanted to switch back fast. "Honestly, there aren't many people I care for more on this island than Luke here." I knew it was my turn to speak.

"And Clarissa is one of my best buddies on this island! I don't know what I would do if I hadn't met her." I said. And, as I said it, I realized that it was sort of true. I _was _happy I'd met Clarissa; she was kind, funny, pretty, smart…

"Well isn't that nice!" The Harvest Goddess exclaimed. We looked up at her hopefully. _Does this mean she'll change us back? _I wondered.

After a slight pause, she spoke again. "It's getting dark, so I'll let you two friends be. Have a nice rest of your day!" She giggled again. My face fell. _I guess that answers my question. _I'd given up on the matter; obviously the Goddess wasn't going to be of much help to us.

Clarissa, on the other hand, wasn't ready to give up just yet. "No, no, no! You don't understand! We have to get back to normal _right now!_ I'm entered in a farming competition, and Luke probably has stuff going on, and we can't do it when we look like this! And…and…"

"Ohohoho, you humans do amuse me! I take such pleasure in your little jests! Thank you for the visit. Now I insist you run along, it's almost time for dinner, is it not?" The Harvest Goddess asked, a glint of mischievousness in her pretty eyes.

"I…I mean…Luke…me…bodies…you did this!" Clarissa stuttered, at a loss of anything else to say.

"Luke, you seem like you could do with a bit of rest. I think that you two should go eat a nice dinner and then get a good night's sleep. Toodleloo!" She practically pushed us down the stone path and out of the little forest glen.

"Well that was incredibly rude." I said as soon as we were out of earshot. "She could've at least been up front about it."

Clarissa began raging."She knew! She _did _do this to us! I could tell, the whole time, she knew exactly what we were talking about!" She roared. Then something I never would have expected happened. Clarissa's knees buckled, she fell to the ground, and she began to sob. Clarissa was _crying_, something I was sure that nobody in Castanet, not even her closest friends, had ever seen her do. What was even more disturbing about the whole thing was that, to someone who wasn't aware of our switch, it looked like_ I_ was crying. And that was _not_ okay.

"Hey, Clarissa?" I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, but you've gotta stop crying." She nodded teary eyed and stood up.

"There we go, big dudes don't cry." I told her.

"But that's just it!" She wailed. "I don't want to be a _dude_. I want to be me!"

"Well, that's gonna take awhile. You heard what Finn said, we have to get along before she'll change us back." I reminded her. It felt strange, acting like the older comfort figure in this situation. I would've expected it the other way around; me punching and kicking angrily with Clarissa calming me down. _Boy, everything sure is mixed up today._

"This is completely whacked." She said, wiping the final tears off her face, which looked so pitiful that I felt almost as though I was going to cry.

"It is, isn't it?" I laughed. "Well, at least we've got each other. In the immortal words of Zac Efron; 'We're alllll in thiiiis together'!" Clarissa smiled at me as I sang, and she began laughing.

"Hey, Luke?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Don't go into show business. Please. Your singing is terrible."

"Guess I should stick to carpentry then, huh? You don't think I'm going to star in the next High School Musical movie?"

"No," she said. "I don't."

"Look, I hate to ruin the moment, but can we _please _eat dinner now? I'm _starving!_" I whined. As if to agree with me, my stomach growled. She smiled and looked up at me, her eyes still shining a bit from crying.

"Sure." She said, nodding in agreement. "Let's go."


	9. Dinner Time!

**Hellooooo faithful readers and newcomers alike! Chapter nine is finally up and running! I'm just gonna warn you before hand, there's a kind of crude joke later on in this chapter (my teenage mind was in the gutter at the time; it's a curse). So I'd just like to take this opportunity to say, pardon me for my sometimes crude sense of humor x)! And if you don't know what I'm talking about, no worries, it isn't at all important to the plot.  
****As usual, thank you ever so much for your kind reviews :). I love to hear from you! I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or affiliated characters.**

Chapter 9: Dinner Time!

Harmonica town was bathed in a warm evening glow when Luke and I walked hand in hand to the Brass Bar. There weren't as many people out and about, so there weren't any funny looks on the way there.

We spent most of the walk silently trying to sort out our thoughts on what was going on. And trust me; there was a lot to sort through. _How can we fix this? What should our next move be? Will I survive?_ I looked over at Luke striding beside me. He was staring straight ahead determinedly. It was amazing how much he seemed to grow up in the few hours I'd been with him. Or maybe he'd always had the capability to be reasonable, but I just never noticed? He was still the same old Luke (in my body, but that's beside the point), but it seemed as though I was seeing a bit of a different side of him.

We finally arrived at the doors of the Brass Bar. It was amazing to think that I had been there giving my orange cake to Chase only two nights ago. I resolved to act as much like Luke as I possibly could in the bar, and Luke also resolved to act like me.

When we walked in, our hands separated. Luke started smiling, as per my usual. Except this time, even though I could tell he was trying to tone it down after I'd told him that his smiles were a little too exaggerated to pass as my own, the smile on what looked like Clarissa's face was slightly over the top. It still had that Luke quality to it, but I figured it was the best I could hope for, so I didn't protest.

I then pasted a huge, over confident grin on my face and changed my walk into a larger-than-life Luke strut. If I had done the same thing as my old self, I would've come across as a lunatic, but it looked normal for Luke's body. For extra effect, I began whistling and swinging Luke's axe carelessly by my side.

"Watch out Clarissa, you almost hit Hamilton!" Luke whispered to me urgently. It turns out that I had just missed slicing the little curl atop Hamilton's head off with my careless axe swinging. Luckily, he didn't seem to have noticed. I sighed a sigh of relief, and whispered a quick thank you to Luke. _Note to self: minimize axe swinging in public._

"Welcome to the Brass Bar!" Kathy said as she spotted us.

"Hey Kathinator, what's crackalackin'?" I greeted her, using one of Luke's nicknames. For some reason that I did not know, Luke felt the need to have nicknames for most people in the town. In fact, I think I was one of the only ones he didn't have a nickname for.

Kathy looked at Luke all strange, as if asking '_Why are you here with _him_?'_. Luke just laughed in response. He leaned in close to Kathy, acting like he didn't want me to hear, but speaking just loud enough so that I could make out the words.

"This idiot wouldn't stop following me all around town! The only way I could get him to stop was if I agreed to take him out for dinner." He said. I was proud; Luke was putting on quite the act. But I couldn't help but frown for a moment (it felt_ so _foreign on Luke's face, it was as if his muscles had never frowned before!). Did Luke really think I said things like that about him to other people? I mean, sure, I had never particularly_ liked_ him, but I had never actually called him an idiot. Kathy nodded and smiled at Luke in understanding. Both of them then turned to look at me. I realized that I wasn't supposed to be aware that they were talking about me (Luke? Me? Luke-me? Oh…never mind) so I immediately turned my attention to an imaginary speck of dust on the wall, trying to think like Luke. _What a fascinating speck on the wall! It's so totally awesome! It's grey, and small, and, and…EXTREME!_

"Alright then!" Kathy said cheerfully, now intending for both of us to listen. "Where would you like to be seated?"

"We'll take the seat by the window!" Luke announced loudly, which caused a few heads to turn. Kathy nodded and led us to the most out of the way seat in the restaurant.

"Thanks Kathinato—uh, I mean, Kathy!" Luke said, smiling.

"No problem!" She said, seemingly not noticing Luke's slip up. "I hope you enjoy your evening at the Brass Bar! Our server will be with you in a bit." She then disappeared behind the counter.

"Do I really come across that cold towards you?" I asked him when we sat down.

"I dunno." he shrugged. "You don't seem to like me very much though, that's for sure." Luke said matter o' factly.

"Well yeah, I guess, but I've never called you a…you know…idiot." I said with a sheepish attempt at a grin.

"Not to my face." Luke replied with a semi smile that made my insides twist up into uncomfortably guilty knots. I felt guilty, and I hadn't even done anything!

A few seconds later, Luke spoke again.

"Do I really appear that spastic?" He asked.

"Yup." I said with a decisive nod. The fact that he came across as that spastic did not seem to upset him, so I continued, "It's alright though; Selena seems to admire you for it." I gestured towards the stage where Selena was doing one of her signature belly dances. She noticed my looking at her and licked her lips. I'm pretty sure that I threw up a little bit inside my mouth.

"Oh, yeah, she's pretty cool. She's not all that _extreme_ though." Luke said.

"She seems to really like you!" I told him. _Does he not understand this?_

"But maybe I like someone else!" Hmm, I'd never considered that before. Could Luke like someone? He always seemed pretty immature, so I assumed he still thought that girls had cooties. But it was possible…

I could hear footsteps approaching our table.

"Hello, and welcome to the Brass Bar, my name is—"

"CHASE!" I yelled involuntarily and quickly covered my mouth with my hands. _I completely forgot about him! _I was shocked to see him, yet there he was, all decked out in his purple apron and black collared shirt. Chase threw a death glare my way that made me feel as though I was about to be killed by the sheer intenseness of it. I couldn't help but blush when I stared into his amazing violet eyes. _Stop blushing! He thinks you're Luke, he thinks you're Luke, channel Luke, you are Luke…_

"Oh, it's _you_." He said to me menacingly. My heart began to melt all over again. _No! Stop that! You can't do that while you look like this!_

After a few awkwardly silent moments of Chase glaring at me, and me blushing in return, Luke spoke up. "Can we order our food now?" He asked impatiently. Chase noticed Luke (who he thought was me) for the first time. He looked surprised for a second that we were together, but he immediately reobtained that smooth nonchalantness that distinguished him from all the other guys. It was likely that Kathy, who was known as the main source of Castanet gossip, had already told him our story.

"Certainly. What would you like?" Chase asked Luke politely. Well, there was a first.

"Hmmm, a hamburger, french fries, pickles, some tuna, a few pieces of toast, and a big melon with a coconut cocktail on the side!" Luke said with a wink out of habit. Chase blushed for a second, confused, while I sat there completely embarrassed. _Did Luke even somewhat remember what I told him about no more winking? _If what looked like Luke's cheeks had been blushing a light pink before, they were now likely to be more of a deep red.

Chase shook his head, probably convincing himself that he'd only imagined "Clarissa" winking at him seductively just then. He then turned to me.

"And _you?_" You could tell that he was straining to be civil.

"I'lljusthaveahamsandwichplease." I stuttered quickly. I felt like turning invisible and running away.

"Luke, are you going to order the damn food or not?" he spat. This was stupid! I had to compose myself.

"A HAM SANDWICH PLEASE!" I yelled loudly and clearly this time. Half of the restaurant was looking over at me. Chase rolled his eyes.

"It took you long enough…" He muttered while writing down my order. He then turned around and walked back into the kitchen.

As soon as Chase was out of earshot, Luke turned to look at me oddly.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"I don't know! I just couldn't talk to him, it was too hard…"

"Well, you're gonna want to eat more than a small ham sandwich." He said, digressing from the subject of Chase, thank goddess. "Pops says that my stomach was like a bottomless pit." He smiled proudly.

"Yeah, well, I'm not too hungry at the moment. And I highly doubt that you'll be able to eat everything that you ordered. I _graze, _Luke; a little food here and a little food there. You ordered a mountain!"

As if on cue, Chase came over with our food. It always amazed me how he managed to make it so fast, and yet it still tasted delicious. "You two are way too loud over here. Be quiet and try not to disturb the other guests, will you?" he said before walking away again. I could hear Luke mumbling something about Chase being a 'party pooper'.

"Sheesh, why does he always have to ruin all the fun?" he questioned to nobody in particular. Deciding not to answer, as I didn't feel like thinking about Chase anymore, I looked down at the food in front of me. It was a ham sandwich; something that I ordered a lot when I came to the Brass Bar. But this time it was different. It seemed smaller than it had in the past, and looked much less filling.

I hadn't realized it before, but I was hungry. No, wait, I was _starving._ My gaze travelled across the table to the feast of food that was spread in front of Luke. I could've sworn I felt a trickle of desiring drool hanging out of my mouth.

Luke noticed the want in my eyes.

"Not too hungry, eh?" he said with a knowing smile.

"Nope." I lied. But my borrowed stomach betrayed me with a loud rumble. Luke laughed out loud before taking a good look at the meal that I couldn't tear my eyes away from. He seemed to be awed at the size and turned the slightest bit pale. He then looked over at my measly ham sandwich thoughtfully.

"A bottomless pit, eh?" I snickered. Luke threw me an angry look that quickly softened.

"Alright, so I guess we were both right then." He said. We stared at each other's meals for a few more seconds.

"You wanna switch?" I asked.

"Definitely." He said without hesitation. We both got up and sat on the opposite sides of the table. Satisfied, I looked down at the meal that was now before me. _Bon Appétit!_

I quickly found out that Dale was not exaggerating when he called Luke's stomach a bottomless pit. I began eating at a relatively slow, neat pace. It soon became clear to me that I couldn't go on like that; I'd be at the bar all night at the rate I was going, and I was just _so hungry_. That was when I abandoned all pride and began swallowing mouthful after mouthful of glorious food. I kept eating and eating, yet I didn't feel any fuller.

Across the table, Luke was smiling at my vigorous consumption of the food while he nibbled on his ham sandwich every now and again, as I usually did.

"We order for each other next time, deal?" he asked.

"Deal." I told him through a mouth full of food.

About ten minutes later, as I finished up the remainders of my gargantuan meal, Luke's stomach finally caught up with me. I was full. I felt utterly satisfied, and expressed that satisfaction with a loud burp. Luke, who had just finished his ham sandwich, started laughing at me.

"Clarissa, if I didn't know any better, I could swear you were 100% guy!" He teased.

"Hey, it's not me that's 100% guy, it's your stomach." I said as I patted said stomach contentedly. "How do you eat so much and stay so thin and muscular? You're just like Shaggy from Scooby Doo!"

"Bottomless pit." He answered with a shrug. "That, and the fact that I need the energy to run around all morning and chop down trees."

I nodded. "I suppose it makes sense. I imagine it'd take a lot of energy for you to handle all that wood in the morning."

Luke stared at me for a few moments before he began laughing. "Wood! You said wood! Handling _wood_ in the _morning_!" To my utter confusion, his laughter continued.

"What? What's so funny about handling wood in the morning?" I demanded to know. This just made him laugh even harder. His face was turning red, and he was having trouble staying in his seat. After a few more seconds of just watching him laugh and wondering why, I understood. And I was completely grossed out.

"Ugh, that's disgusting Luke! What are you, an inappropriate teenage boy? Get your mind out of the gutter!" I shouted at him, but he just kept on laughing. To my dismay, I was beginning to laugh too.

"Now that you're me, you'll have lots more _wood_ to handle, won't you Clarissa?" He asked, and then we both started howling with laughter. Even though there was a part of me that was irritated at my laughing so hard over something so immature, I couldn't help it. The more I thought about what I'd said and the way I'd said it, the funnier it got.

Chase then came over to our table. "Are you two done?" he asked. We both nodded as we reluctantly wiped the tears of laughter from our eyes. "Wow. I can only imagine why you two are cackling like hyenas over here." he said, picking up all of the empty dishes. "And I'm sure it's not because of one of Luke's axe jokes." I'm not completely sure why, but this just made me start cracking up again.

"Ahaha, nice one Chase!" I said, finding it much easier to talk to Chase than it had been when I was ordering. Laughter removed the stress and anxiety I normally felt when he was around. Chase sighed.

"That'll be 1200 G." he said in monotone. I pulled the money out of my pocket and handed it over. He quickly snatched it out of my hand, mumbled good night, and walked back into the kitchen.

"Chase does seem to have a stick up his butt most of the time, doesn't he?" Luke giggled. I'd never really noticed it before, but Chase _had _always been kind of stiff. So stern, so serious…Luke had a much better sense of humor. And, now that I thought about it, that wasn't such a bad thing.

Luke looked at his wrist, as if he were looking for a watch. He looked slightly perplexed for a moment, but he quickly snapped back to reality and turned to me.

"Hey, check my watch, will you?" he asked. I looked down at Luke's bright orange watch, which now resided on my wrist. It read 11:00 PM.

"Holy chicken eggs, it's gotten late! Will Dale—"

"Pops." Luke corrected me.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Will _Pops _and Bo be worried about you…me…us?"

"Yeah, I guess so. We should probably hit the road." We got up from our seats and strolled out of the Brass Bar like two good friends.


	10. There's No Place Like Home

**Hey everyone! Wow, two chapter tens in one day; both Dear Molly and The Grass is Always Greener were due for updates. This chapter is more transitional than anything, but I hope that you like what you see :). Read, review and enjoy please, as always!**

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Chapter 10: There's no Place Like Home

By the time we left the bar, nobody was walking around. The deserted streets were only lit by the moon hanging high overhead.

If I'd had more time to consider the fact that Castanet resembled a ghost town at night and that I couldn't see what was lurking in the shadows, I would have been terrified. Being a morning person _and _a people person, I've never been good with the dark or a lack of people. The prospect of both combined usually sent shivers down my spine.

But tonight was different. Clarissa and I spent most of the walk to our respective homes discussing…well, everything.

"And you have to feed him twice a day. Every day." She said seriously about her dog, Charlie.

"But I don't get it, why are you so serious about his feeding schedule? I'm sure the little tyke would survive if you fed him only once by mistake." I said. Clarissa turned her head sharply towards me, her gold eyes glinting in the dim light.

"Luke, you_ have _to make sure that you feed him twice a day. Charlie's a nice dog most of the time, but if he doesn't get fed his normal amount he can get…testy. He'll bite you if you're not careful."

"Alright, alright, I get it." I told her. Although I had never had any pets myself, I was pretty well acquainted with my forest friends. How bad could taking care of one dog be?

"Changing the subject, any idea where the Finn-meister went? He was on my shoulder when we went into the Brass Bar, but by the time we left he'd vanished. Poof!" I suspected that the little bugger must've followed Clarissa everywhere, and was surprised when I looked to my shoulder and found that he wasn't there.

Clarissa laughed heartily. "Did you really think that he was always around? No, no, no, we have an agreement that he'll give me my privacy. Although he's fun to be around, it'd get pretty invasive if he was always there. Usually he stays with me on the farm and when I'm taking care of stuff that needs to be done, but when I'm just hanging out with my friends, he leaves."

"Does this mean that we're friends?" I asked hopefully. I didn't quite know why, but approval from Clarissa mattered a lot to me.

Clarissa shrugged, "We'll see." She answered. My hopes fell. _Gee, thanks Clarissa, way to tell me absolutely nothing._

Clarissa, however, seemed oblivious to my dashed hopes as she checked my watch again.

"Look, Luke. Are you sure I shouldn't go on ahead? I have people waiting for me, and you don't. I'll be able to take longer strides with your legs than you'll be able to with mine, so I can move faster if I'm going by myself." Her argument was a good one; Pops and Bo were never happy when I was home too late. But I really didn't want to walk to Clarissa's house alone…

"Can you just walk me to your house? I…erm…don't know where it is." That was a total lie. I knew exactly where Clarissa's house was. I just didn't want to have to go there by myself.

"Fine, alright. It's straight up ahead anyway." She conceded, which allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief.

When we got to her doorstep, Clarissa and I did a final review.

"So you're going to wake up tomorrow, wash up, then feed the dog and yourself. There should be some left over orange juice in the fridge to drink—"

"Why orange juice?" I interrupted.

"N-no reason," she stuttered. "Anyway, you'll eat breakfast, and then I'll come over later on to help you with the farm work if I can. Got it?"

"Got it!" I nodded in affirmation. "And you'll wake up, wash up, eat breakfast, and then come over to help me with the farm work. And remember to ask Pops for your carpentry assignment for that day!" I knew that if she forgot to ask Pops for her work that day, he'd throw a loony. He was very strict about business, especially in the fall when demands get higher as we get more customers. I didn't want Clarissa to have to face his wrath if she didn't work hard enough.

"Sure, sounds good." She nodded.

"And don't give away the secret!" I reminded her.

She just rolled her eyes at me. "C'mon, Luke, I'm not stupid. Of course I won't reveal the secret."

"Good." I told her.

"Fine." She said. We then proceeded to stand out on her doorstep awkwardly. _Should we hug or something?_

"Well…I'll, uh, see you tomorrow!" I said, finally. Anything to break the awkward silence surrounding us. At a loss of what else to do, I stuck out a hand.

"Sure…see you." Clarissa said, shaking my hand like we had just made a business transaction.

"G'bye!" I shouted and waved as she ran off towards my home in the Garmon Mines. I watched my old body quickly wave back before disappearing into the shadows.

Unsettled by the lack of noise and the fact that I was now the only one around, I fumbled with Clarissa's key a few times before entering her house.

It was your typical two roomed country home. Beside the door where he had walked in sat a bookshelf with lots of farming reference books inside and a cabinet in which it appeared Clarissa kept her various odds and ends. Rummaging through things revealed that the odds and ends were indeed rather, well, odd.

_Why in the name of the Goddess does she have a purple and blue mushroom from Fugue forest in here? And there's a lapis lazuli, too! And what's up with that aging piece of spinach? _I wondered, and then shrugged it off. I decided that, if Clarissa really did have an affinity for collecting odd things, then it wasn't my business to know about it. In one far corner of the house was a kitchenette, complete with mini refrigerator, mixer, oven, and pot. Nearby was a door, one that presumably led to a bathroom. There was a queen-sized bed in the other far corner with a bedside table beside it, and a dresser beside that.

"Hmm, guess I should get changed then." I said to the house that was otherwise empty of people. I walked over to the dresser and, in a sleepy fog, pulled out what I guessed were her pajamas.

I waddled into the bathroom, pajamas in hand, and stood there for a few moments before the gravity of the situation hit me. _Wait a second, I have to change!_

Fully awake, the gears in my head began spinning rapidly. _What to do, what to do, what to do…Ah ha, I've got it!_

I reached over to a panel right next to the door, flipped the switch that was inside it, and the lights were out. _Good thinking! _I pat myself on the back for my inventiveness, and then quickly got dressed in the dark. I tried as hard as I possibly could to imagine that I was dressing my own body instead of Clarissa's.

_You're just postponing things._ A little voice in my head chimed in. _You're gonna have to shower eventually, you know._

The voice _did _have a point; even if I could get dressed in the dark, showering in the dark would be a whole different beast to conquer. And I doubted that Clarissa would want me walking around smelly for who knows how long we'll be like this.

Head hurting from too much thinking, I decided that I would cross that bridge when I came to it, and that the best thing to do now was get some shut-eye. Clarissa and I had a big day ahead of us if we were ever going to fix this.

I walked over to Clarissa's bed, lay down, and created a cocoon for myself out of her thick quilted covers. I was a little sad when I realized there was no Bo in the bed next to me, and, therefore, nobody to say good night to. That was when I spotted the little orange harvest sprite laying on the pillow beside me, curled up into a tight ball, snoring lightly.

"Finn." I whispered, and shook him. He didn't budge.

"Finn!" I said, this time pushing him a bit harder. Still no reaction.

"FINN MEISTER! FINNICUS SPRITICUS! FINNY BOY!" I shouted, shaking him back and forth.

"Ugh, what is it, Luke?" he grumbled. "Why did you have to wake me up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to say goodnight!" I told him with a smile. To my dismay, the sprite did not look amused.

"Good night, Luke." He said, curling up again.

"Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

"Mmhmm…" Finn muttered.

"I'll see you in the morning, buddy!"

"Yup. See you in the morning…buddy." He finally said. I smiled triumphantly at my success, not to mention his acknowledgement of me as something more than a pain in the arse. I then closed my eyes, and drifted off into an easy sleep.

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The Harvest Goddess smiled to herself as she watched who appeared to be Clarissa climb into bed through a watery orb. With a flick of her wrist, the floating orb fell and the water that had made it up dispersed itself throughout the pond beneath her feet.

"Ignis! I know that you've had good ideas in the past, but this was brilliant, positively brilliant!" she ran up to him and hugged him amorously.

"I take it they've survived day one, then, have they?" he asked, chuckling a bit as he did so.

"Yes, yes they have. Oh, but surely they'll have many more trials to come!" she giggled.

"Darling, how long exactly do you intend for them to stay like this?" he asked.

"Just as long as it takes for them to learn their lesson." She winked.

Ignis sighed. "Well…alright then. But please do change them back as soon as they're ready. I hate to see them occupying all of your time."

"Ohh, Ignis, is somebody feeling a bit jealous?" she shook her head. "Tsk tsk, that's no way to go about things! And besides," she said, leaning in closer to him. "I'll always have time for my number one."

Ignis smiled widely. "Shall we, my mistress?"

"We shall…" She purred. And, in the blink of an eye, the two gods were behind the rocks and out of sight.

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**Thanks for reading! Also, just as a note for all of you who _didn't_ pursue Chase in ToT (I married him and ToT, and married Luke in AP), orange juice is his favorite drink. That's why Luke asked about it, and why Clarissa got all flustered x).**


	11. A Rude Awakening

**Yay for updates! I'm actually really happy with this chapter, and I hope that you all like it too. Please read, review, and enjoy :D!**

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Chapter Eleven: A Rude Awakening

"Luke…_Luke_…" A voice whispered in my ear.

"Uhhh, mom, a few more minutes…" I grumbled, turning away from the voice and rewrapping myself in Luke's heavy covers.

"Mom? Luke, your mom's been dead for years." _Dead…Mom…Luke? _

My eyes quickly snapped open in realization, and I found myself face to face with Bo, Luke's fellow carpenter.

"Bo! G-good morning! Sorry about that, I, um, must've been still asleep." I chuckled nervously, wondering how much I might've given away in my half-awake mumblings.

"Luke, are you feeling alright?" He questioned me, looking skeptical.

"W-what makes you think I wouldn't be alright, buddy?"

"Well, first of all, when you finally got home last night, you were really…_quiet_."

"But I—" I tried to get a word in, but Bo continued. Obviously, he was used to Luke trying to interrupt him.

"You're _never_ quiet, Luke. It was actually pretty creepy." He said, almost seeming to shiver at the thought of Luke being quiet. And Bo did have a point; I hadn't been overly chipper when I'd arrived at Luke's house. In fact, all I'd wanted to do was collapse onto a bed and sleep. And that's what I did almost immediately; I hadn't bothered with pleasantries.

"Secondly, you didn't wake me up at precisely 6:03 this morning. You've been doing that every day since we were kids. Care to explain?" Luke woke Bo up at 6:03 every single morning? Wow, I don't know how on Earth Bo managed to put up with that. It sounded like a special form of torture.

"Ah, Bo! That's just like you, always reading into things." I laughed, hoping to drive him and his questions away. It didn't work. Bo kept staring at me, waiting for a proper explanation. Trying to act unbothered, I continued.

"Well, I guess _have_ been feeling a bit off ever since the night in the woods thing." I threw Bo a bone, hoping that he'd take it for what it was worth and leave me alone. He sighed, finally realizing that he wasn't going to get much more out of me.

"Okay, Luke. Whatever you say. Just…feel better, will you?"

I gave him my best Luke grin and hopped up from the bed. "I will! Gee, thanks for caring so much, Bo. You're the best carpenter brother buddy a boy could ever have!" I then pulled him into a bone crushing, Luke-ish hug. I could feel Bo's muscles relax under my squeeze, and knew that I was officially in the clear. For now, anyway.

Pulling away from the brotherly hug, I smiled at him again. "You go down and tell Pops I'll be there in a little while." Bo nodded, and went down the stairs. As soon as he was gone, I fell back onto the bed in a relieved heap. _That was a close call…who knew that Bo was so darn observant! _I didn't know him well, but the impression that he left on most of the village was that of a quiet, sensitive boy who would rather keep to himself. However, if what had just happened was anything to go off of, it appeared that Bo was a _lot_ more intelligent and perceptive than he let on. And he knew Luke like the back of his hand. I made future note to be especially Luke-like when I was around Bo.

Getting up from bed, and wishing nothing more than to stay in bed all day long, I pondered what to do next. Having to be someone else felt like playing a video game; too many wrong steps, and I'd fall through a trap door.

I looked down at my outfit, which consisted of Luke's usual ripped brown vest, white muscle shirt, guy jeans (which, I'd noticed while wearing them, were much baggier than girl jeans), his shark tooth necklace, and, atop my head, the trademark flaming bandana. As Luke had been wearing the same outfit when we were in the woods, and I'd woken up in the clinic yesterday wearing it, it was safe to assume that the clothes had been on the body I was residing in for at least two days. Which meant that they definitely needed to be washed.

And apparently, the clothes weren't the only things that needed to be washed. I lifted up an arm, and sniffed curiously. My arm went down almost immediately, and I could feel my nose wrinkling in disgust.

_Ugh, I smell like...male!_

There was no way around it, a shower was in order.

I walked over to Luke's dresser, and rifled through the drawers until I found something suitable to wear. It was pretty much the outfit that I already had on, except that the muscle shirt became a red t-shirt, the vest became a green and black jacket, and the fire on the bandana changed from yellow to blue. Not a huge difference at all, really.

Cautiously, I entered the bathroom, fearing what I might see. In a house with three guys and no ladies, who knew what the condition of the bathroom would be like?

It wasn't clean, that's for sure. But it wasn't terrible either; nothing a bit of tidying up couldn't fix. The floor was tiled, but there were several shirts and shorts strewn across it. The countertop featured several different toothbrushes, a few opened tubes of toothpaste, some used hand cloths, and what looked like a squished beetle. The toilet seat, of course, was up.

I walked farther and looked into the mirror, still startled to find Luke's face looking back at me instead of my own. One couldn't possibly imagine how strange it is to look in a mirror and not see the same reflection that you've been seeing for years.

I stared the Luke in the mirror directly in the eyes. He stared right back at me. I blinked, and he blinked too. I smiled, and suddenly Luke looked overjoyed. I put a hand to my face, and traced down my jaw line, watching intently as he did the same. I could feel the prickle of stubble beneath my hand. _This is so strange…_

A loud voice interrupted my thoughts. "Luke! Are you going to spend all day admiring yourself in the mirror? Get the shower running, and come on down! Before the pancakes get cold!" I immediately tensed up. _How did he know?_ Suddenly paranoid, I took a quick glance around the bathroom to make sure that there weren't any security cameras. Results were negative, so I assumed that Dale had just made a lucky guess.

"Sorry Pops! I'll be down soon!" I shouted, relieved that I wasn't being spied on, and resolving to save making faces in the mirror for later.

I knew that it was time to face the inevitable. Hesitantly, I pulled Luke's vest and shirt over my head, and let them fall onto the floor in a pile. I'd_ intended_ not to look in the mirror, but curiosity got the best of me, so I turned around.

Even though I didn't like him all that much, as he was annoying, nosy, and undoubtedly obnoxious (although my opinion _may_ have changed a bit since the switch…maybe), I couldn't help but admire the shirtless boy that I saw in the mirror. Luke's skin was consistently, beautifully tan. His abs were absolute perfection, probably because of all that axe swinging he did. He had the type of figure that, properly shown off on a beach, would undoubtedly make girls swoon.

My eyes travelled upward slightly to the bandana that was still on my head. I couldn't remember ever seeing Luke without a bandana, and my guess was that everyone else in Castanet would probably say the same. Luke without a bandana was like cake without frosting.

_Hmmm, I wonder…_

Carefully, I began to untie and remove the bandana. I did it slowly because, oddly enough, removing the bandana felt like I was removing an integral part of what made Luke who he was. I almost expected to see a secret bald spot or horns protruding from my head or something else strange and hidden. But there was nothing like that; just more thick, long, blue hair. Still, it was a weird sight.

I then looked down and gulped nervously. _This is one thing that I won't be looking in the mirror for. _Closing my eyes, I unzipped jeans, removed boxers, and sighed.

Now that that was done with, I stepped into the shower and turned the temperature dial to the spot in the warm section that I usually liked it. Water started pouring out of the showerhead above me, but, weirdly enough, it felt cool. I waited a few minutes, wondering if it was just in the process of warming up, but there was no change in temperature. _Hmmm…maybe Luke's shower is different than mine is? _I thought, and turned up the dial a little bit higher. _Nope, still too cold._

It was then that I decided to observe the dial more closely. There were two words embossed in the metal ring surrounding the dial; one reading warm, and one reading cold. Upon looking again, however, I noticed that a third label had been added on scotch tape at the top of the warm section. In Luke's messy scrawl, it read, "EXTREMELY HOT :D!"

I winced for a moment, remembering a time that I'd accidentally turned my own shower dial up that far and how it was so hot that it hurt my skin. I didn't know how Luke could deal with the temperature that high! Then something occurred to me; I had eaten like Luke the previous night, because I had his stomach and, therefore, his appetite. Would I want to shower at the same temperature as Luke usually did, because I had his skin? _Hmmm…it's worth a shot. _I turned up the dial all the way, so that it was pointing directly at "EXTREMELY HOT :D!".

The water changed temperature almost immediately, going straight from way too cool to just right. The scalding hot water splattered against my back, feeling like perfection. I couldn't help but laugh; it figured that Luke liked to take showers with the most extreme temperature possible.

I washed blue hair thoroughly with shampoo (which was quite odd, seeing as Luke's hair is actually _longer_ than mine is). I then moved onto washing everything else, focusing every bit of energy that I possessed on looking forward the entire time.

Stepping out of the shower proudly (as I had succeeded in not once looking down), I grabbed the only cleanish looking towel in the room and wrapped it around my waist.

I brushed out Luke's hair, as he'd instructed me to, so that it would come out knotless when it was dried. I then got dressed, which was much easier than getting undressed. Bandana on my head once more, I grabbed Luke's axe and ran down the stairs, trying to look eager as I imagined Luke would.

"Good morning, Pops! Hey Bo Bro! I hope I'm not too late." I shouted to them. Bo, who was sitting at a small wooden table and chewing a pancake, nodded at me in acknowledgement. When I spotted Dale, I almost laughed out loud. He was standing in the kitchen, flipping pancakes, wearing a frilly apron and oven mitts. Seeing the gruff carpenter in cooking attire was definitely not something most people would be able imagine without cracking up.

But, for the first time since becoming Luke, I restrained myself. Everyone in town knew of Dale's situation. Since his wife died, he'd become stressed and overworked. It was understandable, seeing as how he had to fulfill both the father and mother role in the lives of Luke and Bo. I had often seen him drinking in the bar, drowning in his sorrows to somber music.

Quite contrast to those bar nights, Dale was presently grinning broadly at who he thought was his son. "Nope! You aren't late; in fact, you're right on time. Second batch of pancakes is just being finished, all for you." On cue, he handed me a plate filled with piled up pancakes. At first I was intimidated by the amount, but I remembered my last dinner and knew that I could handle it.

One by one, the pancakes disappeared off of my plate and into my mouth. I was completely oblivious to anything else in the world besides those pancakes; they were phenomenal. Who knew that carpenters could also be great cooks? I was just finishing up, when Dale looked at me kind of oddly.

"Why, Luke! You haven't taken any maple syrup!" he said, apparently surprised at me.

"Oh, maple syrup isn't my favorite," I told him. "It's a little too sweet for my tastes."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Your _tastes_? Since when do you have tastes? "

_Oh, Goddess. _"Ahaha, what I mean is, I'm just not really in the mood for syrup today, Pops." I tried to explain, with a bright smile on my face. I found that Luke's oversized smile always found its way straight into the heart of those who received it. It was just so…_innocent_, so blissfully happy. You couldn't help but be content and understanding when you saw Luke smile. And, now that I possessed such a skill as Luke did, I made sure to take full advantage of it.

Dale looked at me with slight concern for a few more seconds before the smile got to him, and he couldn't help but smile back. _Success! _

"Well, alright. If you've developed so called 'tastes', I guess I can deal with it." He said. "As far as work today goes, Bo, I've assigned you to make the rocking chair that Mira ordered. If you could get it down by evening, then I'm sure she'd be appreciative." In a flash, the warmhearted Dale that had made me breakfast had vanished. He became all business.

Bo nodded in understanding of his instructions. "Yes, sir. I'll be on it!"

"And, Luke, I want you to chop down some more trees in Fugue Forest. Ramsey's just put in an order for a whole dining room set; table, chairs, the works. I want to make sure we have adequate supplies."

"Aye aye, Pops!" I said, saluting. It seemed like the kind of thing Luke would do in the situation.

Bo and I sat there at the table, waiting to receive any more instruction. "Well, what are you boys doing? Get moving!"

And, without further ado, Bo and I jumped up from our seats and dashed out the door.


	12. Technical Difficulties

**Holy Goddess, I've actually updated this story? Finally? No, you're eyes are not deceiving you! Chapter twelve is up and functioning! Thank you for the continuous reviews and alerts and favorites that I've gotten for this over the course of the past two months! I'm ecstatic that you all are enjoying this story so much, and I hope that you continue to do so. As usual, feedback and critique is always appreciated :D!**

**I want to dedicate this chapter to Lollipopdiego, as she reviewed this story _10 times_ while I was away, which is positively amazing. She's always been a very loyal reviewer, and has never hesitated to give any of my stories a try! Also, she writes some pretty darn good stories herself, so I'd check them out if you get the chance :).**

**Enjoy chapter 12!**

Chapter Twelve: Technical Difficulties**  
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The feeling of sunlight on my eyelids told me it was morning. My eyes fluttered open, and fell upon a digital clock that read 6:03_._ I smiled triumphantly to myself: _the internal body clock never fails! _

And that was when all normalcy ended.

It took me a few seconds of staring sleepily at the clock to realize that something was off. _Huh? The numbers aren't green like usual…and the clock isn't black…and…wait! Wait a second!_

It wasn't my clock.

Feeling slightly panicked, I sat up in bed and began looking around the room. It wasn't my room.

I blinked a few times…Nope, still not my room.

The unfamiliar surroundings were starting to get to me; I began to panic. _That clock isn't mine, the room isn't mine, this bed isn't mine, these sheets aren't mine, th—"_ My thoughts stopped short as my eyes fell upon a pair of, uh, bouncy balls. Now, I like bouncy balls as much as the next guy, but when the bouncy balls are attached to you? And you're absolutely _sure _you didn't have them a few days ago? And you can't remember _how in dear Goddess' name_ they got there?

…Well, can be a bit startling. A lot startling. So startling, in fact, that it can reduce one to screaming a girly scream shrill enough to wake up all of Castanet.

"Eeeeeeeeeeek!" I shrieked, causing Finn's eyes to snap open and become wide as platters.

"C-Clarissa?" he shouted. The name brought memories rushing back of what had happened over the course of the past two days. I guess I might've thought that the whole thing was a bad dream, and that if I went to sleep and woke up again, then everything would be back to normal. Unfortunately, seeing as I was in Clarissa's bed in Clarissa's house with no Clarissa in sight, 'back to normal' was out of the question.

At first, Finn's face was the picture of worry. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt? Is everything—" his rambling ceased, and the look on his face right then told me that reality must've sunken in for him too.

"Luke, what was that screaming all about?" he asked. His mouth was creased in a small, disdainful frown. _Geez, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed…_

"Sorry about that, Finn! Guess I was a bit shocked; I didn't remember who I was right away." I explained.

Finn, ignoring my explanation, rolled his eyes and grimaced. "Please, Luke, try not to make it a habit? I'd really rather not have to babysit you all day long."

"Oh, don't worry about me," I said, waving him off, "waking up as someone else was just a minor setback. Now that I'm officially awake, I'm ready to go!" And, with those words, I hopped up from the bed and began walking towards the door that led to Clarissa's bathroom. Then I stopped.

"Umm, Finn?" I asked carefully.

"Yes, Luke? What is it? How may I be of service?" Finn said with a clear bite in his tone, reminding me a bit of Chase. He seemed to be losing patience with me rather fast.

"…How am I supposed to get undressed?" Finn's only reply was a groan and a facepalm.

"What? Would you rather I _not_ ask you? I'm just trying to be gentlemanly…" I grumbled in annoyance at the sprite's attitude towards me. I wasn't doing anything wrong! Wouldn't_ he_ have questions if he was trapped in a body unfamiliar to him?  
_He totally would._

After a few more moments of Finn trying to ignore me and me staring at him stubbornly, he gave in and responded. "Why don't you just close your eyes while you undress?" _Ding! _A metaphorical lightbulb flashed over my head.

"That's brilliant, Finny boy! Why didn't I think of that before? You're the greatest!" I exclaimed, easily scooping up the irritated sprite into my hands, and giving him a big hug.

"Choking…Luke…can't…breathe…" I heard him complaining hoarsely. After a few seconds, I released my grip on him, smiling mischievously to myself as I did so. I always gave big hugs, (they were often described as bone-crushing by the other villagers; I wasn't sure whether or not I was supposed to take it as a compliment), but one could definitely say that there was a bit of revenge behind that particular squeeze.

Satisfied, I grabbed a random pair of Clarissa's clothes from her dresser and headed into the bathroom.

I went into the bathroom the previous night, but it had been late and I'd turned the lights off pretty quickly. Now that it was bright and I was awake, I was able to take a full look around.

The room was very small, with a tiled floor and rose colored walls. It featured the expected bathroom necessities; a toilet, a sink, a mirror, and a shower. However, there were a few other things in the bathroom that I hadn't expected to see; a makeup bag on the sink counter, a pink shag carpet covering a good portion of the floor, and a package of white things that looked kind of like diapers…except not.

Like with the main room of Clarissa's house, the unfamiliarity of the room and the stuff in it began to get a bit unnerving after a few moments. Regardless, I did my best to shrug it off, quickly changed out of Clarissa's pajamas (with my eyes closed, as Finn-the-wise had suggested), turned the temperature dial in her shower to my usual spot, and stepped in.

The hot water hit me square in the back immediately after I got into the small shower.

"Owowowow!" I cried, my hands grabbing the dial to change the temperature before I spontaneously burst into flames. Or something like that.

"Ahhhh…" a sigh escaped me as I was instantly relieved by the cooler and more pleasant water that was beginning to flow from the showerhead. _That's funny. EXTREMELY HOT water has never hurt like that before…_

"Luke, you okay in there?" I heard Finn calling me from the other side of the bathroom door. This time, though, he didn't sound annoyed or frustrated with me; he sounded worried. And, based on the cry that I'd let out once I felt the hot water against me, I couldn't really blame him.

"S'all good in here, Finnalicious! Just some, uh, minor technical difficulties." I assured him, secretly pleased that he was actually concerned this time.

There was a brief pause before the harvest sprite spoke again, "Alright. Just be careful; I don't want Clarissa's body to suffer just because you're the one in charge of it." His words were followed by the sound of tiny wings flapping as he headed away from the door, and returned to whatever it is Finn does when he isn't following Clarissa around Castanet.

Thankful that I'd gotten the temperature of the shower worked out (albeit still confused as to why I had to 'work out' the temperature in the first place), I moved onto the next order of business; actually showering.

I turned to a raised platform built into the shower wall. It held several multi colored bottles, each one sporting its own multi colored label. I had to squint to read the curly letters used on most of them. _Soothing violet gel…Sweet Pea Revitalize…Seabreeze Volumizer with Cocoa Extract…Oh Goddess, where's the normal shampoo? _I groaned loudly in frustration at the complexity of the labels, but it did nothing to help my situation. The colorful bottles continued to sit there, mocking me with their fancy squiggles. _First there was waking up, then the shower temperature problem, and now these taunting bottles of who-knows-what?_ This morning just wasn't my morning.

After a few moments, I decided that reading the labels again and again wouldn't get me any closer to my goal of finding the actual shampoo. I randomly selected one of the bottles, poured out a glob of smelly goop, and rubbed it into short brown hair._ It doesn't really matter, _I thought, _they're all for hair anyway, right?_

After rubbing the goop through my hair and rinsing it out with care, I looked to the platform again, wondering what bottle to randomly designate as the body wash. Luckily, I didn't have to think too hard about this one; there was a pink soap bar in a little holder that'd work just fine.

_Alright, here's where the challenging part starts._ I thought, as I picked up the soap bar. I had managed to look straight ahead while washing Clarissa's hair, but washing a body without looking at it would be difficult. The fact that it was Clarissa made it all the worse. It made it tempting. _She's so pretty…and I've never seen a—No!_ I admonished myself for even thinking of it. _You'd be invading her privacy! She's your friend, and she trusts you!_

_But Luke…_Another voice chimed in. _This is be a golden opportunity for you that might never come again! Besides, nobody would have to know if you just took a peek…_

"Argh! Shut up!" I shouted, but the voices continued to argue.

_Don't do it, Luke! She's your friend._

_Give in to it, Luke! You're only human…_

_How will you be able to look at her after this?_

_But haven't you always wondered…?_

"Luke?"someone called, this time from outside my head. The other voices ceased as I honed in on the new voice. It was masculine, and it sounded awfully familiar…

"Clarissa?" I yelled, trying my best to be heard over the shower. "Is that you?"

"Yeah! I'm here to help with the farming." she answered. Oh, I'd forgotten that she was coming over to help me out!

"Hold on, I'm just cleaning up. I'll be out in a few minutes." I told her, grateful of her timely arrival. There was no longer any decision to be made; I couldn't look at anything, because I knew that Clarissa was out there and that she was waiting for me to finish. _Phew, thank Goddess._

Determined not to do any more thinking, I quickly gave myself a once over with the soap bar and rinsed off before twisting the dial so the water stopped running. I then got out of the shower, and hurriedly dried myself off.

Looking at the clothing I grabbed, I found that it was an outfit I'd seen Clarissa wear before. I glanced over the items I'd laid out, just to make sure I hadn't forgotten to grab anything, when I found my eyes stopping on something in particular. It was a bra. Clarissa's bra. _My_ bra.

"How the heck am I supposed to put this on?" I asked aloud as I picked it up and considered it. Sure, it'd been easy enough getting it off before the shower, but I had no idea how to put it back on. Which was probably a good thing, considering that most guys don't know how to put on bras…Well, maybe Julius does.

I twisted and turned the thing every which way before figuring out how exactly it was supposed to be put on. _Yes, I've got it on! Now I need to find out how to make it _stay_ on…_

I felt around a bit, and found that, much to my dismay, the clasp was in the back.

"What the…? What the farm is up with this thing?" I shouted, as I fiddled blindly with the fastener with no success.

"Are you having bra trouble in there?" Clarissa asked, the amusement evident in her voice.

"N-no! I am perfectly capable of putting on a bra all by myself!" I told her defiantly. "Now if I could only get this darn clasp…"

"Would you like me to help you?" she laughed after a few more moments of struggle.

I sighed; there really was no other way to handle the situation. She and I both knew that, if I was left to put the bra on alone, then I'd probably be in the bathroom for the rest of the day.

"…Fine. Just let me get decent first." I said, pulling on everything but the bra and shirt. I opened the door to find myself, arms crossed and looking smug.

"So I hear you're having some bra issues…" Clarissa chuckled, reddening the cheeks of yours truly.

"HA HA HA, very funny. I'm laughing _sooooo _haaaard." I told her, adding an exaggerated eye roll to top it off. "Can you just help me already? And don't you go looking!" I warned, as calloused hands made their way to the impossibly complicated bra straps.

Clarissa quirked a blue eyebrow, "You're telling me not to go looking? I know what my own body looks like. I should be more concerned about you having looked during that long shower of yours." she said as she worked carefully away.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I was very gentlemanly during that shower. Didn't even look once." I told her, smiling proudly, and inwardly sighing in relief that I could say that truthfully. "And the only reason that the shower took so long was because of all of those bottles! I mean, _Seabreeze Volumizer with Cocoa Extract_? What the heck is that? It sounds more like a chemical cleaning product than a hair product…" as my ramblings came to an end, my ears were met with a satisfied clicking noise.

"Aha! There we go!" Clarissa said, taking a step back and admiring her work on me. Suddenly, I found that the bra stayed on whether I was holding it there or not; it was perfectly fitted and latched.

"How in Goddess' name did you do that?" I asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

"I'm used to it, I s'pose," she shrugged. "Although, it is rather weird putting one on from the outside."

"Whoever designed bras didn't do a very good job." I decided. "Was it necessary for them to put the clasp in the back? Are they _trying_ to make it frustrating for you?"

She laughed. "I don't know about that. But I_ do_ know that I'm happy I don't have to deal with them for the time being. I still can't get over how flat my chest is now! It's...freeing." She said, almost sounding wistful.

"And while you're busy feeling freed, I'm subjected to torture harnesses and oddly titled hair goop. I don't think this is a fair trade…" I pouted.

"We've both got some adjusting to do." She said with certainty. "Now, onto more important things! Are you ready to start your first day of farming?"

"Do I have to?" I groaned.

"What's with you today, Luke? You're usually so enthusiastic about trying new stuff!" Clarissa said, leaning on my axe, as I would so often do.

"I think I'm suffering from axe withdrawal." I said seriously. I haven't parted with my axe for more than a day since I got it on my seventh birthday! "Do you think after you do my work for the day that I can borrow it, just for a bit?" I looked at her pleadingly.

"Okay, fine. I can't resist the puppy dog eyes." she conceded with a smile, causing me to whoop and jump up and down.

"Awwight! The promise of some axe swinging has me reenergized! Now let's get FARMING!" I shouted, unable to contain my happiness. I knew that, once my axe was back in my hands, everything would feel right again, if only for a little while. I began to run for the door, when a Clarissa held me back.

"Are you sure you're ready?" she asked, smirking a bit. I was about to reply, when I noticed that she was pointing at my chest. I then realized; I still hadn't put on a shirt.

"…Just give me one more sec." I told her, this time running towards the bathroom door, Clarissa laughing behind me.


End file.
